Providence Smiles
by Liquid-Goddess-Reformation
Summary: Gainel has always been alone, both from other beings, and in his emotions, which set him apart from other gods. But when by chance his despair is lifted by the arrival of Sarralyn Salmalin, it seems as if a force even greater than the gods is at work.
1. Part I: The Visitor from Elsewhere

Anyone who's read any of my stuff knows that I often bring a different take to the stories I write fan fiction on. This is no different. It's probably going to have an AU feel because most of it has to do with dream which we don't hear much about so I'm going to be making a lot of things up. But don't worry it'll fit in with our characters just fine.

I'm not Tammy, cuz if I was, heck knows I'd be publishing my stuff and you'd have to pay for reading this, unless you had a Barnes&Nobles nearby, then you could just spam it by reading the books in your free time on their comfy couches.

_Remember people, you have to review for me! I always want to know what you think, and for my first time readers, I post your name and a response to your review on the next chapter I post!_

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

Part I: The Visitor from Elsewhere

Gainel surveyed his territory, Dream, an area that existed simultaneously within Chaos and the Divine Realms, which mortals only touched upon in their sleep.

He remembered it at the beginning of Ages when Mother Flame presented it to him as his domain. It had seemed to him as if he'd gotten the best share of the divine realms, he felt the luckiest of them all, while the others just took theirs as if it was their due. He'd known then that he was different from the others; they didn't _feel_ the same way he did.

Perhaps it was the part of him that was sired of Chaos that allowed him to have such powerful emotions, where his brothers and sisters hardly seemed to care. One could hardly coax a frown or a smile for any reason at all. The trickster gods showed the most emotion of all his kin, they found amusement in life, but even that display didn't have the passion that those of the living realms held in every fiber of their being.

Perhaps Mother Flame had known what she was doing, was trying to protect him from anguish, when she forbade him entrance to the Living Realms. He would grow attached to his charges in a way that, once they'd died or passed on, could challenge his mental and emotional stability, and one can't have an insane god maintaining the Living Realms equilibrium.

But knowing something and _liking_ something were too different things.

And even so, he wished he at least had a consort that shared his capacity for feeling. It seemed he had been alone here forever in his beautiful domain with no one to share his whimsy, but he was alone. No consort had been born for him from Mother Flame, and no demi-god or goddess could be his match; not in power, not in emotion, not in imagination. Nor was any immortal satisfactory, for all immortals had been born of the dreams of mortals, and so one would always feel inferior to him.

He often felt more akin to the humans who shared his bent for chaos, but his very essence prevented him from taking a consort from their breed. Humans couldn't live forever as immortals and gods could. And although recently the minor god Weiryn had managed to convince the Great gods to divinify his beloved Sarra into the minor goddess The Green Lady, that wasn't an option for Gainel.

Gainel was a Great god and the prospect of him taking a mortal, even a former mortal as a consort would be a cosmic scandal as far as Mithros and the others were concerned. And besides, he wasn't aloud to enter the Living realms, how could he meet a mortal in the first place? And everyone knew that mortals could not hear the voice of the Dream king except in Dream.

He sighed in torment as he watched the goings-on of his territory. At the surface it seemed like a perfectly ordinary, if extremely beautiful, country estate with the most gorgeous and luscious gardens the mortal or divine eye had even seen, however for those who had the power to look beyond, it had many dimensions that existed in many places all at once, and dimensions that overlapped and folded on-top of and within others.

These were Dreamscapes and anyone with the power, could enter in and manipulate the dream polls however they desired. It was his job to make sure that didn't happen, as well as deciding which gods could have access to which mortal's dreams at which times, keeping an eye out for new kinds of Immortals, and maintaining the imaginations of humans to continue pushing them to new heights.

At least, the last one he assumed himself, however Mother Flame had approved, so he had continued, and though he couldn't see the results for himself, he had gotten reports from his dream constructs and messengers that he was having a positive influence on the population.

Being the patron of no country, city, or priest-hood meant he could take all of humanity into consideration, not just his chosen few as most of the other greater gods did. He wanted to look out for all of the mortals; however he wished he could do so in a more direct fashion.

Looking across the emerald green grass he saw, with his inner eye, those dimensions that were the dream pools and his constructs as working tirelessly maintaining the structure that was dream.

Stepping into those dimensions, which were, for the most part, incorporeal, he bypassed the walls of his home, leaving the physical aspect of his realm behind.

Here, everything was subject to your mind. Things were as real or unreal as one could dream up. It was possible to walk through walls, and be stopped by seemingly thin-air. Such power was indescribably, to control the flow and tangibility of the universe, even if it was a very small universe that disappeared even as a mortal woke to do the morning chores.

This was what he'd been entrusted with at the dawn of ages; it was his purpose, and everything he could ever want… And yet he found himself feeling dejected, and he couldn't find a way to fill the void that marred his very soul…

"Milord." said the echoing voice of one of his dream constructs as it reported to him. This one had the form of a many eyed black bird that had been dreamed up by some fellow quite a time ago, but Gainel had taken such a fancy to it that he created a construct in a similar form, with a few improvements; it's not being evil for one, and it's sentience for another.

"Milord, there is a visitor," continued the construct.

_A visitor?_ But who would visit him? And how could he not have sensed their arrival into his realm? No being, be they divine, mortal or immortal could mask their foreign presence from _him_, especially not in _his _territory.

Perhaps it was another construct? But even so, he would have felt another god's energies amongst his own. Maybe this construct had gone bad? It had never happened before, but maybe someone tampered with it?

But no, even as he checked, he found no magic but his own; no one had touched this construct. Hmmm…

"What sort of visitor?" he asked it.

"The visitor isn't one of us, it wasn't here before," was the ambiguous answer.

_Oh yes, well, that was absolutely the response I'd been aiming for! _Although constructs were very good at what they were created for, actually getting them to use some independent, creative thought was next to impossible. They weren't "alive" in the sense that gods, mortals and immortals were, they were only slightly sentient, and created for specific purposes. Some could develop personalities over time; however this still didn't help them describe things that were beyond their pre-programmed understanding.

"And you don't know what it is?" he shook it's bird-like head, "Where did it come from?" he asked the construct.

"Elsewhere." was all it said.

At this point, Gainel decided that he would have to risk the "visitor" being extremely dangerous even to a god or it being a completely mediocre anomaly that wasn't worth his attention. What he was asking of the construct was clearly beyond its abilities.

"Show me this visitor." he said. The construct led him through the shifting dream pool to an area quite outside any place that a human or immortal might be as it dream, and no where near an immortal or god might find themselves should they wish a visit. Needless to say, the master of dream was very curious as to who or what this "visitor from elsewhere" was, and why it was in his domain.

And all at once, they stepped into an area that seemed as if it couldn't decide whether it was physical or incorporeal. It didn't shift in and out but had the same features whether one looked at it with their 'eyes' or their 'inner eyes'. It hung that way as if deciding, then swung into a physical state, revealing a cobblestone path, marble bench a trellis-arch covered in ivy, and a small girl sitting under the trellis, looking very bewildered.

"Wasn't here before, here now, stays here." the construct replied cryptically, landing on the shoulder of the girl, who didn't even flinch but petted it with a slight smile. Gainel searched her essence thoroughly, trying to judge whether she was mortal, divine or otherwise. But every time he made a deduction, he second-guessed himself. She seemed to be a little of both, but how could that be?

"How did you get here?" He said without bothering to wonder if she would understand; being part mortal.

The girl existed on more than one plain, like one of divine origin, however she mostly existed in the physical plane, like a mortal; gods either existed on many planes equally or sometimes mostly in non-corporeal planes.

"I dunno." She responded, however that didn't necessarily mean anything.

She was fairish with wild black curls and grey eyes. He estimated she was about eleven mortal years old, but he hadn't had much experience with mortals. He could already see she was going to be tall; she was lanky and mostly leg. Her manner seemed itchy, as if she wasn't quite comfortable in her skin. Like someone who was used to going barefoot, but was often made to wear shoes.

"What's your name?" he asked her, might as well figure out where she came from.

"My Ma says I shouldn't talk to strangers." she said defensively.

"I just want to help you get back to your Ma, and if you don't know how, I have to try and figure out myself." he told her calmly.

She seemed to think a moment, as if deciding whether he was trustworthy. "Sarralyn, but I liked to be called Lynn."

"Alright Lynn, do you know where you are?"

"No."

"And you don't know what you did to get here?"

"Nope."

"Well, can you tell me where you're from?"

"Tortall." Well, that figured, and at least he knew she was mortal or mortal-raised at least.

"So your name is Sarralyn, although you liked to be called Lynn, and you are from Tortall."

"That's right." She said, and abruptly he realized she was still sitting awkwardly on the hard cobblestones.

"Oh, please, here," he said as he held out his hand for hers, she accepted it and he helped her to her feet, she dusted her clothes off a little and checked herself but didn't seem any worse for whatever wear she had incurred while coming there. "Would you like to come in, while we try to figure out how to send you home?"

"Well, uh…I…I guess so." was her hesitant answer, she stopped petting the construct and it jumped off her should and flew away, shifting planes as it did so.

"It disappeared!" she gasped, it was such an unusual reaction that he burst out laughing.

Or perhaps it was because it was a 'usual' reaction; the few visitors her had, or people he bothered to visit, were all gods, and didn't often display such powerful expressions, and the fact that it was perfectly reasonable for her, a mortal, to react exactly the manner she had, just seemed utterly hilarious to him.

"It surprised me!" she retorted, probably to appease his laughter, but it only made him laugh harder, "It's not funny!" she said testily, but the fact that she was about five feet six inches, and his image was over six feet tall, not to mention the assumed age difference made her anger seem ridiculous; which made him laugh harder still.

She growled slightly then seemed to grow dejected, "I guess if all you're going to do is laugh at me then I…" and she sniffled slightly.

His laughing died down, and when he saw that she wasn't faking her emotions, as he'd thought she might be, he gave her a small smile of his own. "I'm sorry, Lynn, I'm not very used to people." He said honestly, he wasn't sure if she bought it, but it was the best he had by way of an explanation, that she might possibly understand.

"Yeah, if you laugh at everyone you meet, I can't imagine you'd get many guests." She replied angrily.

"No, I don't get many guests; no one ever comes to see me." He tried to say the words calmly, but she must have detected his sorrow at the thought.

"Oh, it must be lonely."

"Sometimes." He agreed. _Yeah, sometimes…most of the time…nearly all the time, _"would you like to come to my chateau?" he asked her. She nodded, and he held his hand for her and she giggled.

"I feel like the ladies in the palace." She explained happily.

"You are most certainly the finest lady to ever grace the halls of my home, of that you can be sure." They ambled along the cobblestone path to chateau in silence except for the sounds of wind over the grass and their feet on the cobbles.

"What's your name?" she asked suddenly, he told her.

"Gainel, you say? Like the dream god?" she said, surprised.

"The very same." They were nearly upon the entrance now, and they were passing through some gardens when Lynn spoke again.

"This is the Divine realms isn't it, and you're the real Gainel, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"You are quite correct."

"But how did I get here? How do I get back?" she was the image of suppressed panic.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I'm going to do all I can to help you." He said as the wooden door was only a foot away. It took her a moment to think over what he'd said, and he thought to himself, that other gods didn't do this sort of thing.

But when had cared about them? When had he _ever_ been like them?

_Never_.

His siblings could go shove it, this was what he wanted to do.

Besides, he was _responsible_ for her. He was a _god_, and the humans were the charges of the gods, even if his kin often forgot, and became caught up in their own games.

And he had a strange feeling, although he was not quite sure what it was, the best way he could describe it, would have been as if their souls were harmonized.

"Thank you." was all she said, but it seemed profound. He couldn't say why, he had a vision of The Balance, the great scales that governed the universe taking count of all debts and deeds, shifting in his, and oddly enough her, favor. But he didn't see what was balanced against them.

But it couldn't be for no reason she was here, he could feel it, this was right.

"But in the mean time, there's no reason you can't enjoy a cup of tea with me, is there? I don't get many guests, as I've already told you." He said in a slightly teasing tone, he realized, as he flashed her a smile.

He could tell something had happened, the world just looked different, much brighter, and more colorful.

"I suppose not." She smiled back.

"Then do come in, Milady Lynn." He opened the door.

"Don't mind if I do, Milord!" She stepped in.

_And that Ether-being known as Providence smiled._


	2. Interlude 1

I'm not Tammy, but I'm sure you already guessed as much. Tell me what gave it away, the talk of dimensions and special relations? Or alternate dimensions existing simultaneously in space? Or maybe it was just my extensive use of the word construct…

Wow thanks for reviewing so quickly! I posted it last minute at two in the morning, debating on whether it was good enough for posting, but I'd had this idea in my head for weeks and it just seemed right, so I did! I love reviews this is the quickest I've gotten reviews on my stories _ever!_

A special **Thank you! **to:

**nativewildmag** and **Ace Ryn Knight**! Yes there haven't been any that I've noticed either. I loved Gainel's character in TRotG. He was my favorite and I was kind of disappointed when he didn't show up in any of the later books at all! He just seemed more human than the other gods, and there are all kinds of references to humans&emotions/chaos/him-being-part-chaos&having-emotions that it seemed obvious to me that something like this was _meant_ to happen.

Of course you don't know what'll happen, but I do, you'll just have to read and find out haha, aren't I just awful?

And **Sorceress Shadow Rain**: You're the first person to review this fic! Bake yourself a cake girl, cuz you are awesome! And, yes I do plan on continuing; however I'll probably wait forever between posts, and randomly double or triple post. Like I said, aren't I awful?

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**_Interlude 1_****_The Faults of the Gods_**

"_No Lynn, the Gods can't control everything in our lives. For one thing why would they want to? For another, we were created as they were, we get to make our own choices, live our own lives. The Gods are more like overseers, making sure everything runs smoothly, helping us when we get into trouble, sometimes meddling where they see fit; but for the most part they leave us alone, unless they need us, or we need them." Numair told his daughter in answer to a question._

_ "Why would a God need a human? Can't they do whatever they want?" she asked confused._

_Her father shrugged slightly, "They have tremendous powers, yes, but they have their own rules and laws and limits. Sometimes there are things the gods have no power to affect, where they have to give up control and rely on us to make the right choices. It helps to keep the balance between mortals and gods." _

_Sarralyn was listening with intense interest quite uncommon in a nine year old girl, but she still seemed curious. "Has it ever happened before? That the Gods needed a human to help them?" she asked._

"_Oh, yes happens all the time. You mightn't have realized this, but nearly all your adoptive aunts and uncles have had contacts with the gods." Sarralyn's eyes bulged in surprise._

"_Really? Not just Gramma and Grampa, right? But the other gods, too? Really? Which ones, which ones!" she pleaded spastically, sounding like a typical nine year old girl again._

"_Well," Numair began, "Your Auntie Alanna—,"_

"_But I already _knew_ about _her_ …" she said making it sound as if she thought Numair was trying to trick her._

"_Maybe, but did you know that your Uncle George did, too?"_

"_Unc'l George, talking to a god?" she giggled, George might have been her favorite out of al her uncles because he was could make any situation funny, and his down to earth nature and manner had made fools out of many "fancy people". At balls and galas, when nobles talked circles around each other, George would say something very obvious that completely discredited everything the noblemen said, rendering them lost for words and forced to make spatter non-sense sentences to try and cover their tracks, making them look even more foolish. She'd seen it happen before and thought it was almost as magic her cousin Thom turning tea cups into porcupines. _

_Sarralyn could picture her Uncle George talking to god like he was an ordinary person, and the anonymous god standing there looking dumbfounded; the thought made her snicker._

"_What god was he with?" she asked her father._

"_The Trickster god, Kyprioth, and so was your cousin Aly and Nawat."_

_Well that made plenty of sense to her. Those three were the trickiest people she new. Her cousin Alianne was The Copper-Isles spy-master, and Nawat wasn't only her husband, (which in itself looked like it took a lot of effort and vigilance, as far Sarralyn was concerned,) but was in charge of a new military force in the Copper isles deemed The Crows, that were similar to the Queen's Riders in Tortall._

"_Who else?"_

"_Your cousin Kel's been doing all kinds of things for the gods for years, poor girl, they won't leave her alone. Your Uncle Jon? The Black God himself is his patron. Your cousin Kalasin and Emperor Kaddar, the Graveyard Hag is always dropping in on them I hear." She hadn't understood then, but now she realized what her Father's slight smirk was hinting at. _

"_And then there's your cousin Lianne who married a nobleman in the Yamanis Islands, The wave-walker looked her up, I hear. And—oh, me and your Ma, of course," he said as an after-thought._

"_Da, what are the Gods like?" she asked wonderingly._

_He took on a serious expression and was silent for a moment, then sighed, "Well, with the track record the rest of you family and adoptive family have between us, not to mention your own abilities, I'm sure a god will petition you someday, so I might as well tell you now._

"_The Gods of humans, the Great Gods especially, might look like people, they might even appear to act like them, but they don't see things or understand things the same way we do. A death or the need of an individual person doesn't concern them, unless that person was useful to them, and even then their sorrow is the slight annoyance at the loss of a tool. It's not that they hate us or feel any ill will toward us, it's just the way they are. They can't help it. Maybe it's because they live so long, or maybe there's another reason, but they have a very narrow emotional capacity._

"_So if you meet a God, keep this in mind, they can't help what they are, don't despise them for something they have no control over, like how your mother's animals can't help what they are, or you can't help what you are. But still be mindful, you can't appeal to the humanity of a God, because they aren't human, and things that would be horrible to us are nothing to them."_


	3. Part I: It Just Feels Right

Double post, w00t.

I don't own the Tortall series of novels, Tammy does, although copies of her books do line my book shelves…

I know it's different but I hope you like it. I just love Gainel so much, sniff I wish he was mine… I'm afraid I don't have a copy of Tamora Pierce's The Realms of the Gods and my mind is kind of fuzzy on what Gainel looks like…but lucky for me gods can change their appearance at will so it doesn't matter anyways! Yay!

Everyone take a look at chapter one again before you read this, because I fixed it. It was pretty sparse near the end and so I added some stuff. Sorry to be a pain.

Also there's a lot of fumbling inner-monologue from Lynn's point of view, it might be kind of difficult to understand because of the way I wrote it. I was almost confusing myself, so if anyone has any questions about it, just ask in a review and I'll post it up here for everyone.

Review! Please!

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part I- It Just Feels Right**

He wasn't like a God at all, at least not the way she pictured them, in armor with weapons and blue flames and big explosions and great auras Gods who were detached from the world, haughty, arrogant, and not really caring about anyone's well-being unless it had something to do with their own plans. But she could tell he was special, that he wasn't like everyone else. He had to be a God, what else was there?

Sarralyn had always been able to shape-shift, even in the womb, or at least that was what her mother said. For the longest time, Lynn had thought it was an outstanding joke that all of her relatives and adoptive relatives were in on. But recently, she'd acquired the brain power and maturity to realize that carrying on a joke so vast and complex that everyone she asked about it could describe realistically how her mother had to put up with her shape-changing powers, even before she was born, was impossible.

According to her mother, she hadn't even had an original form before she was born. It took her Grandmother, the demi-goddess The Green Lady, to force the baby Lynn to choose a form that she was to stay in for at least six years, before changing to others. She hadn't been aloud to shape-change till she was six.

It was a rule made by a goddess, which meant it was unable to be broken, even if Lynn had wanted to.

Which she had.

Growing up normal for six years, you'd think she would never even have figured out she could change shape. But she'd known, Lynn had always known she could, had remembered herself doing it, as if she'd just done it the day before, when she couldn't even remember anything before she was four, when she could shape change when she wasn't even born.

She could do other things too. Lynn saw things that others couldn't. Or at least "seeing" was how she'd described it. Up until she was five, everyone had thought she'd had The Sight, even though it didn't run in her family, and it worked different from her Uncle George and Cousin Aly's. But her father had did some delving and realized that was she had been "seeing", she'd actually been sensing in a way that had nothing to do with the eyes.

It didn't really have much to do with her other senses at all. It was just a kind of feeling, and her mind put it together like a picture. Like how a bat could see in the dark, but didn't use it's eyes, instead it used echoes, and it's brain put it together so it knew what it's surroundings looked like, without using it's eyes at all.

She could tell things about people, even if she didn't know them. She could sense magic, and when someone had the sight or the gift or wild magic. She could tell other things as well, but she hadn't yet figured out what they meant, even with her father's help.

So when she'd been reading in the palace library right after lunch, when the pages and squires were all at their studies, and sensed a thinning of the 'air'.

And as she approached it seemed more and more like a definite 'something', and not something that had to do with the air at all. And it was more like some sort of dip, or depression than anything else. It was a material that seemed to coat the universe, of which, she'd somehow missed until that moment, when it was making dents into itself, screaming for attention.

It seemed horribly conspicuous. So what else was she going to do, but take a look?

And reaching out her hand, she couldn't grasp it, or interact with in anyway. Her hand didn't so much go through it, as somehow not be anyway near it all, even though they were on top of each other. Why couldn't she touch it?

Lynn, being a shape-shifter, often changed aspects about herself to suit the situation, suddenly gaining cat's eyes when it was dark, or fishes with webbed toes and fingers when swimming, or camouflaging her while hiding. She was way beyond the point where she needed to consciously think about it. She adjusted automatically.

So she shouldn't have been a surprise when her body suddenly took on a aspect that _could_ touch that element and she was automatically sucked into it.

It hadn't been obvious to her that she should suddenly see a billion different universes everywhere and anywhere and nowhere at all yet somehow contain within a single space. They ran through her world, within her world, outside her world, all at once, and yet they were separate.

And she was sucked inside them.

Surrounded and completely lost as to which way was up or down, or whether it really mattered in the first place because maybe it didn't exist here? She scrambled through them, pushing them out of the way like so many wispy cloths waiting to smother her.

She was moving, she could tell that at least, and at her own volition, though she didn't particularly know how she knew this, or how she'd done it. She wanted to go back _home,_ and as she was fumbling her way through this 'space', not really knowing where she was, she saw her world drift by. 'Floating' towards it, she couldn't manage to touch it, as if it wasn't even there. But she knew her world, with that deep part of her that somehow sensed things; she recognized it like one recognizes an old friend.

_It won't let me go back._

Looking at herself, she realized why. Hers was a world of ups, downs, forwards and backwards. She wasn't equipped to go back anymore, her body had changed. It was in a form of inside-outsides, and downside-ups and all the twists in between.

But she didn't remember what she'd changed to make it so, and her world kept drifting along with everything else and she had to move to keep it in site, as she tried to change the nature of her body.

Something clicked, and now the no-where-everywhere place was rejecting her. She reached for her world, but she could tell as she came to it, that she still wasn't the right frequency to go in.

But she was the right _frequency_ to go somewhere. It just felt _right_, that place did, and Lynn found that she was already drifting towards it. It seemed the closest world to hers, and it was welcoming her on its own.

Lynn decided; she touched it—

—and promptly fell onto a cobblestone path in the middle of what looked like a country estate.

"Wasn't here before, here now, stays here." She blinked, the echoing voice had come from what looked like a giant raven with lots of eyes, that was sitting on the shoulder of a man. And the man was just…looking at her. Well, through or _into_ her, seemed slightly more accurate.

Her attention shifted back to the bird as it leapt off the man's shoulder with an un-natural grace to glide and land on hers. With the wild mage herself, being her mother, she was fairly used to strange animals and immortals and new their 'feel'. This didn't feel like an animal at all, it was very different, though she didn't have the knowledge to describe, _how_ it was different.

But when it seemed friendly enough, she reached up her hand to pet its sleek feathers, and found herself smiling.

"How did you get here?" the man asked. It wasn't a particularly vengeful or commanding voice, it wasn't impressive, and in fact was fairly soft and quiet.

"I dunno." she answered, still petting the bird; it had started to make an odd purring sound while rubbing her hand. She was trying to make out the man's appearance, but he was mostly in shadow from the sun.

But it wasn't what she saw with her eyes that gave her the most insight into his identity. Just like she knew animals and immortals, she also new humans, and he was no human.

At first she thought he might be an immortal, but there were no immortals that looked like replicas of humans, and although he had a very similar feel to an immortal, it was still different. His essence was complex and stretched beyond the physical. He had to be a god, what other beings were there?

"What's your name?" he asked, in a slightly curious tone, but he was still so quiet she could barely hear.

"My Ma says I shouldn't talk to strangers." She said automatically. She was nervous, what should she do what should she say?

And something her father had told her about the gods kept repeating in her head: "_Be mindful, you can't appeal to the humanity of a God, because they aren't human, and things that would be horrible to us are nothing to them."_

But he wasn't spouting lightening; he must not be a very powerful or important god. He seemed…well, a lot like a cat: shady, curious, quiet, and intense all at once. She'd always admired cats; she had a black and white one named sugar at home. And she turned into cats all the time.

But cats were also tricky and proud. She just needed to find out if he was a temperamental lion, or a cool jaguar. She realized she was still measuring him by human standards (and now animal standards.) Doubtless her way of seeing things was different than hers.

He seemed almost sad at her words, or was she imagining it? She must have put more bite into her words than she'd thought or meant. But why would a god care what she thought of him?

"I just want to help you get back to your Ma, and if you don't know how, I have to try and figure out myself." he told her calmly and sadly. He shifted slightly and she finally got a good look at him.

Once again she found herself thinking he definitely wasn't human, because a strange abnormal shadow hung over his eyes so she could barely make out his face, but his appearance looked fairly young, only about twice as old as her twelve and a half. The shadow kept her from making out his eye color but he had dark hair that seemed made from shadow, and his skin looked normal enough, except that it was just hard to make him out period, he just seemed to melt into the back ground. He also had that far away look of someone who was slightly out of step with reality.

His height was also on par with her father Numair's, however he definitely didn't have the lanky stork-look her father did. He was more willowy. If he hadn't looked so much like an ether-worldly being, she would have thought him a scholar. In fact, he reminded Lynn a lot of her favorite foster cousin, Thom, except for the fact that the best that could be said about Thom's height was that he was "almost average". Although Thom had a lot more muscle than the average scholar/mage.

She liked his feel.

She knew it was a stupid thing to base a decision on ones trustworthy-ness, but her Senses had failed her yet… Unless of course you counted that fiasco just a few moments ago…now, that was just bunk.

"Sarralyn, but I like to be called Lynn." She told him. He actually looked like he was relieve and happy she was going to trust him. She didn't know what he'd done to make her think it was so, he'd hardly moved at all, but Lynn was sure she was right.

"Alright Lynn, do you know where you are?" he asked her.

"No." She replied, feeling strangely confident.

"And you don't know what you did to get here?" He already knew what the answer was, she could tell.

"Nope," she said again. Now that the depression was gone, she had no idea how to get back to that nether-place.

"Well, can you tell me where you're from?" Nothing really changed in his expression, but she could tell he was getting slightly frustrated, not really at her, but at her answers.

"Tortall." She could just hear him thinking _well that figures_! She could tell because she would have thought that same thing in his situation.

"So, your name is Sarralyn, although you liked to be called Lynn, and you are from Tortall." he repeated.

"That's right." she answered.

"Oh, please, here," he said flustered at realizing she was still on the ground, and acting the most normal out of the whole time she'd been talking with him. He held out his hand for hers.

Not really thinking about it, she accepted it and he helped pull her up. While dusting herself off, checking for scraped or bruises, she thought about the feel of his hand. It had seemed normal enough…In fact, though he looked inhuman, and acted strange, she could tell, with that sense of hers, that his behavior wasn't from his godliness, but seemed to come from his lifestyle.

She wasn't sure how she new this, but he was unused to having any living things about him at all.

"Would you like to come in, while we try to figure out how to send you home?" he seemed to be unsure of what to do for her.

"Well, uh…I…I guess so." She didn't know what else to say. She stopped petting the construct and it seemed to get bored and it flew away only to disappear before her very eyes!

"It disappeared!" she gasped, and nearly did so again when the god started laughing at her.

"It surprised me!" she objected, not really caring for a moment that she was yelling at a god. When her protests did nothing but making him cackle harder, she involuntarily shouted "It's not funny!"

But that didn't faze him either.

Maybe gods really don't care about human's feelings. And to think, for a moment, she'd thought he was an okay guy!

A god could have helped her get home, but what was she to do now? Things felt so hopeless. She squished her eyes shut, because she felt herself start to cry, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction…if gods could feel satisfaction at something so mundane.

"I guess if all you're going to do is laugh at me, then I…" she began and his laughing died down and seemed genuinely sorry.

"I'm sorry, Lynn, I'm not very used to people." He even _looked_ genuinely sorry; he gave her an apologetic smile. His whole demeanor was tiring. One second he was Mr. Blank-face, the next he was flipping out.

"Yeah, if you laugh at everyone you meet, I can't imagine you'd get many guests." She replied angrily.

It didn't help her mood that her senses were reeling. They kept telling her he was all over the place even though he was just standing in front of her, as well as things just beyond her range moving around and going about their own business.

Was this normal behavior? Even for a god? Her father had never mentioned they were psychotic. He didn't say anything about them being bi-polar either…

"No, I don't get many guests; no one ever comes to see me." he said, his face blank again. But she could see it made him very sad, as if he'd painted it in bright blue on his face and started crying.

"Oh, it must be lonely." She didn't really know what to say to that.

"Sometimes." Was all he said, but she didn't buy that blank face for a second.

"Would you like to come to my chateau?" he asked her. She nodded, and he held his hand for her.

_Wow, even if he's insane, at least he's a gentleman about it, _she thought taking his arm. She giggled, "I feel like the ladies in the palace!"

"You are most certainly the finest lady to ever grace the halls of my home, of that you can be sure." He said. She wasn't sure if he meant it to be a compliment or just the truth, considering he never got visitors, but she appreciated it none-the-less.

"What's your name?" she said without really thinking, then wondering why she hadn't asked before.

"Gainel." She flinched slightly, not just in surprise, but also in fear.

"Gainel, you say? Like the dream god?" she asked to be sure.

"The very same." he admitted. They were nearly upon the entrance now, and they were passing through some gardens. Lynn vaguely noticed that it seemed like spring here when it was autumn at home.

"This is the Divine realms isn't it, and you're the real Gainel, aren't you." she said woodenly. She almost wanted to pull away from him, but that would have been beyond rude. Gainel wasn't your average everyday god who helped out with a child birth, fertility or this year's crops; Gainel was one of the _Great Gods_!

_Well, I suppose that explains why he doesn't know much about humans. He can't leave the Divine realms._

"You are quite correct." was all he said.

"But how did I get here? How do I get back?" It all came crashing down, and she felt like nothing could ever have been worse.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I'm going to do all I can to help you." he said sympathetically as the wooden door was only a foot away.

A _god_ was actually being _sympathetic _to_ her_.

And all of a sudden she realized what it must mean that she was here with Gainel. Granted it was completely by accident and apparently unexpected, but still…All her aunts, uncles and cousins who had met the gods, they were heroes! They were extraordinary people!

She looked at him found that he saw it too. But he was resolved. And she saw that it wouldn't just be duty to him, but also a pleasure. He wouldn't talk down to her, wouldn't order her about. If she stepped through that door, there was no turning back; he would be her patron god.

But he wasn't like the Gods she's heard about at all. So at least if it had to happen, like her Father had guessed, at least it was Gainel.

And she had a strange feeling around him, like she'd known him forever. He didn't seem so ether-real, anymore; like they'd met at a crossroads and come to an agreement. Somehow, she'd decided and she hadn't even noticed, but it was the exactly the way it should be.

"Thank you." she said, very confused at her own thoughts and feelings.

"But in the meantime, there's no reason you can't enjoy a cup of tea with me, is there? I don't get many guests, as I've already told you." He said in a slightly teasing tone, he realized, as he flashed her a smile.

He really did remind her of a cat.

"I suppose not." His smile was infectious, she couldn't help but smile back, and as she looked at him she thought for a moment that the shade over his eyes had dissipated.

"Then do come in, Milady Lynn." He opened the door.

"Don't mind if I do, Milord!" She didn't even hesitate as she stepped in.

_And that Ether-being known as Providence smiled._


	4. Part I: Rules

Give a shout out, if you think I'm trying to claim the Tortall universe as my own! Well I'm not! Those ramblings of it in my journal were a set-up I swear… But _anyways_, everyone be happy, with the installment of this chapter **Providence Smiles** is now +10,000 words, Yay!

Reviews, Yay!

**Ace Ryn Knight**: Yes, I have an awful habit of not posting grammar and spelling perfect posts. And I'm not being sarcastic. If you read my story Revenant you'll just die from all the spelling errors. 'Course, I didn't have spell check at the time I posted most of it, but still, I've had many complaints. It makes me sad…

And there were a couple errors in Chapter One too, (if yah hadn't noticed), I fixed one of them when I reposted it, but I just couldn't find the others I'd seen while looking it over on the website. It's almost like uploading causes errors, because it all looks crisp to me then I post it and there are all these mistakes. Drives me insane, it really does.

**Ivory Nightshade**, Yes! A new reviewer! Thanks for reviewing, and as I want all my readers to be happy, I will indeed continue, though my updates are sporadic and slightly random. And originally I hadn't planned on doing scenes over from different points of view but the scene just called for it. I'm not sure if the whole story will be like that or not yet because although I have the main ideas down, all the details in between are basically non-existent at this point.

**Numair's Lover**, Yay! Another new reviewer! Thank you! I _do_ try my very best to be entertaining and original. I like writing things that no one has done before, because what's the point if you already know what's going to happen? At least that's how I see it. I'm definitely going to try and update, but my track record thus far isn't so outstanding.

My interest waxes and wanes, and sometimes I just have to put down the pen, as it were. Theses periods have been known to last fairly long as well. But don't worry, I'm actually fairly proud of how this story is turning out, there's not chance I'm going to drop it and I think I'll be able to get a couple more chapters out very soon!

Oh and NL, I love Numair also, but not _quite_ as much as I love Gainel! But the fact the Numair is just one step below him should prove how much I do like, which is to say, it's a level so way out there, it can't be expressed, much less understood, by the human psyche!

Review! Please!

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part I- Rules?**

He wouldn't have gone so far as to say it was a _shock_ to find that she was the eldest daughter of Veralidaine Sarrasri and Numair Salmalín, whom he'd actually met on one occasion, but it _had_ surprised him slightly.

"So, _you're_ the shape-shifter everyone's been going on about." He said absent-mindedly, and took a sip of tea.

Gainel had heard a lot about this shape-shifting human who was more than half-goddess but still mortal. And not only from the whispers his constructs brought him, but even from some of the other gods.

Weiryn, who he'd been known to visit from time to time, was not below expounding on the exceptionalities of his granddaughter; even a mortal granddaughter. The Green Lady was just ecstatic about the whole situation period, and was always voicing her worries about whether they were being raised right in the palace and Mage's Tower; whether they were warm enough at night…Needless to say he hadn't visited them in sometime.

And Weiryn and The Green Lady weren't the only ones. Kyprioth had commented on her 'potential for mischief' not too long ago when he'd come to Gainel for a favor involving the dreams of a mortal.

"People have been talking about me?" She asked curiously.

He couldn't even say how nice it was to just have a conversation with an intelligent being. Constructs weren't great conversationalists, and the few times he'd talked to another god where they _weren't_ expounding on the greatness of their patron country or people, they were expounding on the faults of the _other_ gods' peoples.

And he couldn't even voice an opinion about it; he hadn't any people of his own.

It also felt pleasant to have something that didn't sport a condescending look facing him. It seemed to him that with the exception of the trickster gods, The Black God and a few of the previously mortal gods, most divine beings had a condescending or arrogant expression permanently stuck on their faces; if they had faces that is, because some of them didn't.

"Yes, many have shown an interest in your future. Your younger brother also." he told Lynn.

"Rikash? I guess I could see that, he's going to grow into a great mage, everyone knows it, but still, he's so annoying…" she answered, with typical twelve-year-old savvy.

"Yes, siblings are annoying at times." Gainel agreed and sighed in a very world-weary fashion.

This surprised Lynn, she'd never really thought of gods as having relatives or families. "That's right," she remembered, "all the gods are brothers and sisters."

"Well, not all of them," he admitted. "Most are related in some fashion; If not siblings, then cousins or aunts and uncles; that sort of thing. A few are Divinified mortals or immortals, and some just manifested themselves, but those are both in the minority." He explained to her.

_Divified? Self-manifesting?_ The World of God's was getting bigger, stranger and more complex every moment. It had always seemed to Lynn that it must be boring to be a god, you don't really do that much except meddle with mortals. But it appeared now that they really did have a part in maintaining the 'universal-equilibrium', or whatever.

She also hadn't thought that the Gods would have much to do with each other, and Gainel would have fit right in with her theory, except that apparently he was the exception. Gods had their own politics that she didn't know anything about.

'Course, she didn't know much about _regular_ politics either. It made her wonder if inviting mortals into your Library with large windows and cushy chairs for some tea (hers was watered, however; everything was the very essence of it's being in the divine realms, so the tea was stronger and the biscotti tasted sweeter; it could almost make a mortal sick,) was having some affect on his position.

She stopped nibbling a piece of biscotti to clarify, "But wait, most of gods are related right?"

"I just said so, didn't I?" he did another one of those horrible blank faces as he sipped some more tea out of a fine, white porcelain tea cup.

"So that means…that most of the gods are married to their siblings."

Not only was that nasty, but unhealthy Being the daughter of Diane the wild mage, she knew the theory of heredity using animals as example. She knew that animals that were forced to inter-breed often became sick and had more diseases than animals that didn't.

Gainel could guess what she was thinking. Though it wasn't really an issue to him, he could see where it would be to a mortal. He wanted to explain it to her but he didn't know if he could do it in a way that would make her understand. Also, he didn't know all the rules concerning how much a god could tell a mortal about the inner-workings of the universe and the gods.

He decided to tell her what he could. He would be stopped before he said something outside what he was allowed to; of that he was sure.

Rules and promises made by gods weren't simply words, they became reality. Humans had less power, but more freedom, they weren't constricted by their very essence. The Gods were physical and metaphysical manifestations of a particular element or idea. They didn't get to _choose_, they just _were_.

Humans on the other hand, though they were born with certain characteristics that they couldn't change about themselves, had the freedom to do whatever they wanted with their lives. They could be carpenters or fisherman, heroes or villains, they could speak or remain quiet, they could marry who they wanted, choose who they loved and hated, go anywhere, do anything, be whatever they wanted.

They could choose to break or keep promises; Gods could not. That was why they were very careful about what they promised to anyone.

"—so although humans often find the Gods to be very overbearing, they in fact have more freedom then the gods themselves. Many of us are very envious, some to and almost violent poin—" Gainel stopped speaking in shock; he hadn't realized he'd been talking aloud.

He saw Lynn sitting there listening calmly and with great intensity, her stick of biscotti temporarily forgotten. Her face showed a surprising amount of understanding and intellectual capacity for a girl of the bare twelve and a half years she clamed; granted he'd thought she'd looked a year under that.

It wasn't the fact that she was taking this information with unusual composure and intellect; (for most mortals, this would be a mind-blowing thought, even for a child, that they were in some way greater than the gods.) or the fact that he'd began saying what he was thinking out loud, because he couldn't in all honesty say that it didn't happen to him fairly often as of late; It was that he'd been able to speak of it at all.

Though he wasn't sure of the _exact_ rules pertaining to what you could tell mortals about the relationship between mortals, gods, and the universe, he was sure he'd passed it almost before he'd begun to speak.

"What, why'd you stop?" Lynn asked him hungrily, and completely oblivious to the enormity of the situation.

"What was first thing I said?" he asked, not remembering himself.

It must have seemed to her that he was being very absent-minded, but it couldn't be helped; she gave him a weird look but said, "The stuff about gods being physical and metaphysical representations of the elements; I think that was what you said."

"I see." he said, blankly, too caught up in his own thoughts to give a proper response.

"You know, you never really explained about the concept of gods and kids and…things." Lynn said trying to leech as much information as she could. She had the feeling that this stuff wasn't normal for humans too hear and she wanted as many secrets of the universe as she could get. Not that she wanted to rule the world or anything but the willingness to _know_ ran strong in her from her father's side.

Gainel seemed pretty caught up in some thought or other but he answered, apparently not paying any attention to what he was saying, "Unlike mortals, the aspects of gods aren't determined by any sort of genetic code. There essence can't deteriorate in such a fashion. And besides our characteristics don't come from our parents, who in themselves are only vessels so that we may manifest; we come from the imaginations and wills of mortals.

"The bonds of blood that humans may share, do not apply to us. It is only kinship of elements that may cause us to have some sort if natural fellowship. And we do have bonds of friendship, in that we _do_ have a choice." He told her, and then was silent for a moment, wearing one of his blank faces, however she sensed confusion.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this." He said suddenly.

She shrugged and took another nibble of biscotti, Lynn really liked this stuff for some reason, then said "Well, you don't get too talk to people that much, so you might as well get in all the chatting you can get before I have to get back home…"

Lynn suddenly realized that some how they'd gotten way off topic. She'd started telling him how she'd came and then the conversation turned about her family and now it was getting philosophical. "Yeah…about that getting back home…"

Gainel still looked not really _there_, mental that is; he'd never really looked _there_ physically.

He waved a hand as if to say it was of no consequence. "One way or another we'll get you home, though I can't say that I can bring you there myself, or that you can get back the way you came."

He sighed again, "_How_ was I telling you that?"

This absent-minded babbling was starting to grate on her. She wasn't particularly temperamental, but ones temper wasn't based on not getting angry, it was based on how well you controlled that anger.

"Are you _still_ going on about that? And what do you mean _how_?"

"There are rules about what you can say to mortals, and I'm sure I crossed the line."

"What! What are you saying?"

"How is it that a portal opened for you, and it must have been for you, to the nether-plane? And come you can hear me when I speak?—"

Lynn interrupted him by saying "Well we _are_ in the divine realms—"

"It doesn't matter what realm you're in, you have to be asleep." he told her, "How come I can tell you anything, everything?" he seemed to fade even more into the back ground, she could barely keep him in her vision.

What she thought he was saying, what she thought he was getting at…

"Are you saying," she said nervously, "that I'm a goddess?"

She looked at him. He looked at her wearing a very intense version of his blank-face and said,

"No." he now appeared very confused, "Did you think I was? How strange!"

Lynn face-faulted, she knew it had to be good to be true.

"Now why would you think that, I wonder? No you are most definitely, _definitely_ not a goddess." Gainel went on with an enthusiasm that made Lynn feel very self conscious and rejected

"Well, you don't have to rub it in…" she muttered sadly.

"It wasn't meant to be insulting." He said, sounding confused again. "My assessment was based on the fact that no one can be a god without knowing it, there are strict rules involved."

Well she supposed she understood how it mightn't seem insulting to him, and the fact that he genuinely hadn't meant it like that made her feel better. "Rules? Like not telling humans things?"

"Yes." He answered, but he was staring off into space again.

"So what were you getting at before?" she asked curiously.

"What? Oh, nothing. I didn't really have a point other than the fact that it is…well, apparently not _impossible_, but _extremely_ improbable. I have yet to discern what _makes_ it possible." He had his eyebrows squished together in thought.

She was really getting tired of him working her up them saying something that was extremely ineffectual; it was _tiring,_ not to mention _frustrating_.

"So…about the home-thing," she said, bringing them back to the subject for a second time.

He shrugged, "I can't take you. I can get someone else to take you in a moment, maybe Kyprioth. _Chaos_ knows he owes me a favor or two." His attention seemed to drift off again.

Lynn didn't know if it was a short attention-span, or what, but he seemed to not be able to focus on anything for more than a few moments.

"Wait, are you saying that you can take me home…and within the next few minutes!" She was anxious and excited.

"Yes, it isn't as much of a problem as I'd thought it might be."

"Well, let's go! Come on! Let's get moving!" she was grinning in expectation, her parents were going to be _so_ surprised where she'd been! Not to mention all her other relatives, they would just _flip_. And her brother would be _so_ jealous…

"I don't feel like It." he said expressionlessly, then took another sip of tea. She noticed that it never became empty.

"…you're joking, right?"

"No." he said quite seriously.

"What are you, lazy or something?" she demanded, jumping out of her seat.

He shrugged. "Yes."

But before she could get too worked up, the many eyed black bird she had petted earlier suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Gainel didn't even register that she jumped five feet in the air.

"An intruder," its echoing voice said, "It kills."

"Show me." He commanded. His voice was still a faint whisper to her ears, but now it held an intense purpose that caused her to flinch from the very force of it. His words had seemed a shout or intense boom, even though it could barely be heard by her. His intent was undeniable. He wasn't just a shadow any longer, he was very much _there_. This was a glimpse at Gainel, The Dream-King, and one of the Great Gods, the first gods to come into existence, the most powerful beings in the heavens.

He stood from the chair, and as he moved off, she felt almost tangibly the tension-field surrounding him.

And the she could see that he was changing his make-up, shifting from the world of ups-downs-lefts-rights, to another one of those twisting, inside-out worlds; just as she had done to come here in the first place. But she could see that the way he was configured now, wasn't the same as she had been then, so it seemed he hadn't been lying when he'd said he couldn't take her home himself.

But wait…he was leaving her here!

"Hey!" she exclaimed, and without thinking she grabbed onto the slightly flared sleeve of his onyx-black, high-necked button up coat.

"What are you doing!" he yelled at her, but she didn't back down. He tried to shift more into his twisted form, but she just shifted with him. He looked every bit as bewildered as she must have when she'd arrived.

"You can't just _leave_ me here!" she stated furiously.

"And why not?"

"Well—I—ah—just because!" she stuttered.

_Way to go Sarralyn! That'll convince him!_ She thought to herself sarcastically.

"Because ahh, what if something happens to me, while your not here!" he gave her look that told her he clearly thought she was being ridiculous.

Apparently he wasn't buying it, but he still couldn't get her to let go by shifting. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when once he decided to try something else.

"Because what!" he asked angrily.

"Because ah—" she didn't really know why she wanted to go with him. Certainly it was because she didn't want to be alone here, but that wasn't all of it surely. And then she saw what it was, or at least some of what it was.

"Because you're my patron god! I'm your charge! I help you do things; I can't just let you go out there alone!" she argued.

He gave her an exasperated look, "I don't think—"

"It's not likely that this thing, (whatever it may be!) is likely to be much of a problem for you, is it?"

He snuffed, as if thinking the whole idea of something that could match him as preposterous, "_Not_ likely."

"Then there's no problem." She declared.

Gainel stood there. This mortal was being extremely intractable, he'd heard about there stubbornness, even experienced it himself the few times he'd met one in person, but this was just _something else_.

He could always put an enchantment on her to make wait patiently till he came back…But he wouldn't feel comfortable doing something like that. Most gods wouldn't have hesitated a _second_, but had always felt uneasy when it came to messing with their free-will.

Hitting or hurting her was out of the question. He could always just move her by magic…But he couldn't leave her here, he didn't want to admit it, but things were so strange at the moment that though it was _unlikely_ something would come to get her, it wasn't altogether _impossible_.

But the clock was ticking, and the longer he waited the more damage was being done to his realm and the mortals who lay dreaming. And for the construct to personally get him, it had to be something they weren't able to deal with themselves, which meant it must be fairly powerful, and definitely dangerous, especially to a human.

He would just need to keep an eye out for her; there was no telling what they'd find, with the odd sorts of things going on lately. It really was unnatural.

"Fine, but stay close, and don't touch _anything_." He said gruffly. Her face lit up, despite his stern speech.

He held out his arm for her and she took it, giddy with excitement, and they headed off to face the unknown.

_And that Ether-being known as Providence grinned in anticipation._


	5. Part I: Discord and Violence

I don't own the Tortall universe…Though I wish I did. I'd set myself up as an ultra-goddess or something, now wouldn't that be scary?

**Review-Responses!** Mwahahaha!

**Ivory Nightshade**, Thanks for reviewing again! I love getting reviews. And the answer to your question is both…sort of.

It wasn't as much that he was Lazy as going out of dream and asking another god for a favor was way out of his comfort zone; he's not used to doing that sort of thing. And he'd have to leave his realm; Gainel is a real home-body, he feels uncomfortable when he is outside of his own realm. He's only really concerned with his own territory and the living realms. Though he wishes he could have some company, Gainel still doesn't like being around other gods very much, and most of them think he's slightly off-his-rocker. He doesn't get out into the rest of the divine realm overly-much.

But it's also that he didn't want her to leave, and his own natural aversion to leaving is a nice cover-up for his unwillingness to send her home, don't you think? It's more subconscious than anything else. He's never really had to leave his realm when he didn't want to, so he's never noticed his dislike for it himself, Gainel agreed with Lynn that it wasn't Lazy-ness because he didn't really want to explain it to her.

**Nativewildmage**, Awesome, you reviewed again! I was beginning to think you'd abandoned me! Just Kidding.

I'm constantly logged on so I don't have to worry about that problem. Ha. And I don't care whether you logged on, its fine with me, a review is a review, and I love reviews. The reason I'm constantly logged on is so I can gaze at my story-stats and watch my hits and reviews go up little-by-little.

And yes, Gainel is thinking about this business of him actually being someone's patron god. He's never done it before so he doesn't know what he would need a charge for, so there's going to be a lot of confusion with this subject in future chapters, Mwahahah!**  
**

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part I: Discord and Violence**

The scenery of the chateau fell away, and Lynn could see that the world was flying past her, though she felt as if she were standing still. Thread-like, glowing wisps floated elegantly around them as every shade imaginable flew past them in a wave of color.

"What are those?" she asked in awe, indicating the delicate fibers of light, wafting lazily in clear contrast to the streaming colors flashing behind them. Her voice had taken on a strange resonance after the shift her body had made to stay with Gainel. But if her voice sounded strange, Gainel's sounded even less human. She didn't so much hear it as she felt it; a lightening bolt zapping her and rocking Lynn to her very bones.

"They're ripples of energy caused by the intruder's interference with the dream-pools," was the shuddering reply. Her jaw hurt from the reverberation, but she didn't falter, she kept her incorporeal hand in Gainel's, not daring to let go or loosen her hold for even a moment, lest she be left behind.

She could sense her patron's consciousness as it scanned the dreamscape with tremendous speed; noting every disturbance and slight variation of substance.

And she could see them too, the places where the twisted worlds that were dream-pools, were skewed, bent, broken or disheveled. However, in most cases, they moved so swiftly out of the range of her senses, that she barely had time to register them at all

But Lynn felt the differences. Though the dream-pools in themselves didn't really have much of a 'shape' they possessed an eminence when they were working properly that became distorted when tampered-with. She began to recognize this as she paid close attention to the pools that Gainel examined, and the ones he passed over.

And she could tell that Gainel wasn't very happy about them. His ghostly face wore a frown as his awareness darted from place to place. Sometimes he would hover over one disturbance for slightly longer than the others and the distortion would lessen or sometimes snap back to harmonize with the rest of the dreamscape, but he left most alone, taking note of there existence but choosing not to alter them for whatever reason.

They continued on.

A pressure began to build. Unlike Gainel's tension field, which felt to Lynn as if someone had laid a heavy blanket of sparks that flickered like sheet lighting over anything in the area, this was something different.

Time seemed to stall as they hit a bubble of inertia. Lynn's awareness narrowed then nearly disappeared, and she felt as if she was floating inside an endless sea of rippling darkness.

And a strange hand coagulated as from the blackness and reached forward her, filling her vision. In the far part of her mind, that was unaffected by the spell that had befuddled the rest of her brain, she watched as it unfurled its long fingers and moved toward her.

She could tell something had gone terribly wrong, but her perception of time was off, and though her mind screamed for her to leap away and body struggled to move, everything was happening in slow-motion.

It was going to get her. Though she was slowly moving backwards, the merciless hand seemed unaffected by the resistance to movement she was experiencing.

It grabbed her.

It closed around her face with a grip that felt like it would crush her skull. The touch of the hand caused her to begin shifting to synchronize their consistency and she found she could move almost normally again.

Except that another hand reached out to take her right arm. Another sprang from the blackness to grab hold of her left arm, and still more secured her legs. She thrashed, and knew if she lived through this she'd have bruises covering her body from the force the hands were putting on limbs to keep her in their grasp.

And the chaotic mass of darkness converged to reveal a creature she could never have dreamed even in her nightmares. Its features were so indescribably horrifying that she began screaming with all her might and couldn't stop herself from shaking, even as she lashed out violently to get away.

Its three milky white eyes held no mind or soul. Its black, raw iron jaws were shuddering uncontrollably, and saliva was sprayed everywhere as it shook it's had and smashed its teeth together violently as if trying to hold itself under control even as it wanted to tear limb from limb.

There was a deafening crack and an explosion of color as the blackness tore away to once again become the ever-changing plane of pure color and imagination.

An all too familiar tension-field swept over her and the monster knocking them both back. She scrambled to get away and she nearly managed it but the monster let loose a metallic shriek and one of its many hands grew enormous and flew to trap her like a cage.

But its screeching laughter at her failure to evade capture was cut off as a bolt of pure energy snapped to render the creature immobile. White-hot tongs of electricity with darkened edges arched in what seemed like random patterns as it played along the entire surface of the creature. Its shrieking invaded her brain and flung her hands to her ears, wanting to cry from the pain of it.

The shrieking stopped. The lighting flickered and the last remnants of sparks converged and leapt off of the convulsing monster to solidify into human-shaped being; colors flashing across it's image so fast it became a white blur with a hardened black edge. She couldn't bare the beings magnificence but she wanted to see him.

It was Gainel.

He moved to step in front of her. "**_Leave_**." he said, in a voice like sheet-lightening playing across black clouds in a tumultuous sky.

The monster hid its face behind three of its hands, shunning the glory of the Great God, and limped away from the battle-ground to a depression in the space.

The cavity swirled into the image of a copper and raw iron filigree gate, its bars of metal twisting into ever-changing patterns. The left hinge of the gate swung open to reveal a beautiful, smiling woman dressed in a black dress that rippled across her generous frame. She was holding an apple of pure gold.

The other hinge opened and there stood a toughened man in tattered clothing, his muscles bulging and hands flexing around the hilt of a dagger, his expression a maniacal grin.

They were _Discord_ and _Violence_, the gatekeepers of chaos. The creature limped towards the gate and stepped through it disappearing into the shadows. Violence let loose a peal of giddy laughter then closed left hinge of the gate and disappearing into the shifting darkness after the creature. Discord lingered longer to give Gainel a false smile before she began to close the right hinge of the gate.

But a divine hand shot out to stop it from closing.

"**_Tell Uusoae that she will never send her constructs to trespass upon my domain again."_** Gainel professed, his face mere inches from hers. Black-rimmed white static rippled across his hand and struck the gate, its copper and iron tendrils temporarily shedding light as the electricity raced across its surface.

"_I'll tell her_." Discord said in a voice like liquid diamonds. "_But you would know better than anyone, Gainel; my mistress doesn't abide by constraints."_

_ **"She may be the Mistress of Chaos, but I am the Master of Dream."**_

_"My mistress is quite aware of—"_

**_"Don't mock me, Discord, just go."_** Gainel slammed the gate closed, with a rattling peal that echoed into eternity. Discord stood within the gate wearing as façade of calm that was unable to hide how utterly terrified she was of him.

She stepped back, her eyes never leaving Gainel for as second, as if she was afraid he'd change his mind and lash out at her through the rungs of the gate.

He didn't move.

The Gatekeeper's eyes briefly left the Great God to hold Lynn in her vision, then back to Gainel, who'd noticed and had his eyes narrowed. Discord's face turned from fake tranquility to outright rage then to thoughtfulness.

_"Oh Gainel, you'll never be at peace now."_ she smirked from the shadows before disappearing altogether, along with the Chaos Gate.

_And that ether-being known as Providence flinched._


	6. Part I: The Herald of the Gods

Although I am the mistress of chaos, (except not), I don't own anything from the Tortall world, sigh…

**Fiefiefofum**, thanks for the review! You really made my day! And yes, I know I make all kinds of mistakes, it makes me sad. It's not so much grammar mistakes as just typos; I get typing and I'll skip words because my mind is way ahead of my fingers. And the semi-colon is my best friend, if anyone's noticed how much I use them. They're used correctly but I still use them more in my stories than any others I've noticed. I need a beta but I don't even have e-mail so how would I send it? I've been meaning to get a yahoo account but I'm just too lazy. When I do get e-mail, anyone who'd like to beta me can e-mail or review me and we can hook up.

Though I do look forward to your update don't worry too much about it, the real world does call us despite the fact that we could care less. Or I could at least but I'm pretty psycho when it comes to books and my fanfictions.

And about the ether-being…I'm not telling! I will tell you that he isn't God…per se. At least not the way we think of god. He's more of an entity than even the regular gods are. If you want a hint, think The Balance… and I've practically told you already! Yay!

**Nativewildmage**, I shall never doubt you again! You'd like me to read some of your fanfics? Sure thing! I already started before I posted this. Be prepared, I'm not the meanest critic, but even so…

_Anyways_, the best thing I use to defeat writers block is music. I'm always listening to music while I write it helps me block everything else out. **Muse** is what I've been listening to writing most of this. They are an awesome band. If you manage to get a-hold of some of there music cough download cough know that the song "Stockholm Syndrome" is basically the theme to the entire story…cuz it's my favorite.

I also read other fanfics and things, so maybe a nice bit of ProvSm double deep fried and served with your choice of potato wedges or coleslaw will get the juices flowing.

And Violence and Discord; yup they are kind of important, sort of…I'm not too sure yet actually, although I can safely say that they'll show up for some more screen time later on. I knew exactly how I wanted Discord to look; it was Violence that threw me for a loop. So I just went with the typical-insane-thug gambit. It fits.

And description, I have been blessed or cursed (whichever you prefer to call it I'm not sure yet,) with a pretty good imagination. All the scenes I can picture in my head perfectly and to get you guys to see it to I have to be as descriptive as I possibly can; plus it adds more words to my word count. Sometimes I wonder if you're all seeing what I'm seeing but I hope my impression of it at least comes through so that you may have a glimpse into another world…or something to that effect.

In the words of me: "You have not seen till you have seen what I have seen."

Yeah, I actually said that to someone once. Pretty redundant, but it sounded profound until they started laughing at me.

And **Ivory Nightshade**, yes, I really like getting reviews and I like responding to them. Answering your review is all in a days work. Thanks for reviewing again. And although I have been putting responses before the story, if you guys start thinking it's annoying there or something I can always put them at the end. I don't care whichever you guys prefer. Keep reviewing, I love them so…

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part I: The Herald of the Gods**

"_Oh Gainel, you'll never be at peace now."_ she smirked from the shadows before disappearing altogether, along with the Chaos Gate. But Gainel paid no mind, Discord's very nature was to cause dissention and doubt and he didn't feel like falling into her trap. He was in too much of a fury wondering how the gate could have been opened in his realm _period_. It was supposed to be watched; _Equitus_ was going to get an earful for this, and he was going to give it.

He once again took up a less divine appearance and bent down to check on Lynn. Tears were streaming down her face and she was breathing heavily. Fresh bruises could be seen on her arms where the chaos-construct _Panic_ had attacked her.

The festering masses that had once been _Turmoil_ and _Paranoia_ lay not too far away. He would rather not have destroyed them; destroying another god's constructs was very insulting, and the last God or Goddess you wanted angry with you was Uusoae; however, they'd made the mistake of jumping a Great God in his own realm.

It was obvious now that the main target had not been him, which would have been _very_ stupid on their part, or the dream-pools, which would have made _much_ more sense to Gainel, but had, in fact, been Lynn.

One of his dream constructs approached. This was not the many-eyed black bird, but a marine-like animal with an assortment of colored fins and tails with fanciful and strikingly bright neon splotch-patterns.

"Milord, intruders at the chateau," its echoing voice was exactly the same as every other one of his constructs, "They killed; they were neutralized."

"Were they identified?" he asked it, turning back to watch Lynn as her breathing returned to normal and she managed to get herself in a sitting position. She swayed and nearly fell but Gainel caught her, helping Lynn to stay upright until she could hold the position under her own power. She nodded a thank you as they listened to the Construct's report.

"Chaos-constructs," it answered, "_Pain_ and _Enmity_."

That proved it. It was a two party effort: one party to keep him busy and another to take the mortal from the chateau. Gainel had the feeling that the three constructs had not been expecting the need to capture Lynn themselves.

For some reason Uusoae wanted Sarralynn. He saw now that Lynn's 'dent in the universe' must have been a portal made by one of the Mistress of Chaos's constructs. There was no doubt in his mind.

No one else would have been able to wander in by accident; the only reason Lynn was able to notice or enter it herself was because of her unique senses and shifting capabilities. Neither Uusoae, nor her constructs could interact with Lynn while she was in the living realms, however, in any other realm, the goddess could send her constructs to imprison her.

And though Uusoae would have seen it as lucky at the time, Gainel's realm being so close to her own, Lynn's choice of worlds had proved her undoing. Not only was he one of the Great Gods, perfectly capable of handling anything but a personal attack by _another_ Great God, but Gainel was also especially protective of his realm and didn't tolerate trespassers or unwanted guests.

Neither had she bargained on Gainel's taking a special interest in Lynn's well being.

He should have destroyed _Panic_, he thought, changing his mind; it would have sent the message clearer that he didn't appreciate the Chaos Queen's meddling. Gainel wanted there to be no confusion between them that Lynn was strictly off-limits, but he figured that _Discord_ would tell her Mistress that she was now under his protection; _Discord_ was very observant and he was sure that was what she had been commenting on when she'd told him he'd have no peace.

And as he pondered further, he realized that _must_ have been what Discord meant: Uusoae would not stop coming for Lynn, and she didn't care who or what was in her way.

In the past Gainel had sympathized with Uusoae, being the only other of the Great Gods who was barred from direct contact with the Living realms. He knew the loneliness, and understood that despite the many gods and constructs that inhabited her realm of Chaos, it was still no comparison to contact and influence over mortals. He also knew that she hadn't a consort of her own, just as he hadn't.

They both contained the element of chaos, and she understood that he felt her pain, and any contention between them was only for traditions sake. The Great Gods had always fought for his Brother Mithros, even if the call to arms was against an ally, or in Uusoae's case, a peaceful affiliate.

Gainel had always done the bare minimum in the battles against chaos. He despised fighting as a complete waste of talents, time and energy; there were so many more important things they could be used for.

Though chaos was apart of him, and he appreciated it's uses in stirring passion and keeping races from stagnation, he would still rather stay out of wars and fighting himself.

So, Uusoae did herself a favor, eliminated him as a major enemy by not interfering with him or his realm, and leaving his constructs and the immortals, which were born from human dreams and brought to life by his power. In turn he was perfectly happy to stay as far from the fighting as he could manage without getting his divine brother too angry with him.

And that turned out to not be as much of a problem as one might have expected. Most of the gods thought of Gainel as some sort of odd, pacifistic hermit, especially those who hadn't been there from the beginning of the ages. These days he was figured, for lack of a better word, to be a wimp; or at least as much of a wimp as a Great God can be.

Gainel knew that most humans, and even most gods who one would think would _know_ better, thought that he was by far the weakest of the Great Gods and probably not even a match for many of the stronger second generation and self-manifested gods.

For Gainel's part, he didn't particularly feel like disillusioning them, for it fell in so perfectly with the image he'd wanted displayed of himself, he'd actually _wanted_ to be left alone then, and even now when he grew so lonely and depressed, he couldn't help but shun their company. As desperate as he was, the presence of other gods usually made him feel _worse_.

Everything had gone swimmingly, but then she'd imprisoned _immortals_—_his_ agents in the living realms, _his_—to extricate her escape, and he'd acted against her using Daine the Wildmage, and ruining her plans. And the mistress of chaos had never forgiven him for that, even once the truce was back on, if a little shaky.

But now, Uusoae had blatantly disobeyed the unspoken truce by entering his realm without permission, creating mass damage to the dream-pools, attacked his constructs, not to mention _himself_, and tried to kidnap his charge.

The deal was apparently off. Gainel knew that his ages of neutrality were over, and the next time the Great Gods were called to face the onslaughts of chaos, he would be fair game. In fact, Discord had hinted that Uusoae might now hold a special grudge for him because of his actions.

Gainel would need to be vigilant in the future, both over his realm and the living realm, as much as he possibly could, anyways.

"Gainel?" Lynn had been studying his face, trying to guess what he was thinking, "what just happened?"

"Uusoae just crossed the line," he said, his voice once again a whisper, "She tried to take you from my realm, she attacked my constructs and the dream-pools."

Lynn could tell he was angry, beyond angry, be she knew it wasn't at her and so she wasn't worried he'd hurt her, she could tell he wasn't the kind to lash out at anyone or anything in anger; if he were to attack, it would be because he had a reason.

He breathed a world-weary sigh, and his voice softened again as he said, "We need to get you home."

Lynn had been so anxious to return to her own realm—

—Until now.

She wanted to stay, she didn't know what she could do to help, but she wanted to do it, whatever part she could find to play in what seemed to be an important turn of events. She wanted to say "No I want to stay and help!"

But then he spoke again, "They may come back; it will be much safer for you in your own realm."

He was worried about her, he didn't want her to get hurt and he didn't want any more damage done to his domain. She understood.

"Alright," she said, her voice horse from screaming and filled with not a little bit of hesitation and disappointment.

But Gainel was barely paying attention. His head was tilted as if listening, when another of his dream-constructs appeared. This one was a luminous insect with eight color-shifting wings that rippled at every movement.

"Milord, a visitor." It said simply.

"That will be _Equitus_," he said, his voice tinged with dread, "We'll wait for him at the chateau."

_Equitus_? Wait…

"_Equitus_? The son of Mithros? The herald of Mithros's court?" she asked.

"Yes, we should go I want to be there before he arrives at the Chateau," Gainel answered, helped her up from her sitting position, and they shifted back to the library of the chateau with an ease and familiarity that would have told any on-lookers that they did this sort of thing everyday.

Lynn gasped, "Your home!"

The library, not to mention the rest of the country estate, was in a shambles. Furniture was destroyed, walls were barely holding themselves up and patches of everything in sight were burned.

"The physical damage doesn't concern me." Gainel said sadly as he bent down to examine an object lying on the floor.

It was the many-eyed bird construct.

"Oh no!" she cried, "Is it…"

"No, it hasn't been completely destroyed." he told her in reply to her unfinished question. He picked it up; examining it's torn and broken body.

"Will he be okay?" Lynn's voice had been reduced to a whisper.

"It's too far gone to perform its original function, even with any restorations I could make upon It." he said, the blinked and raised his head to look at Lynn, "However…"

He looked liked her brother and her cousin when they had a rather devilish idea.

"What is it?" Lynn asked suspiciously, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. When her little Brother Rikash and her foster cousin Aly's son Taythun got together, it was sure to be an absolute travesty; she knew from experience.

Gainel looked insulted but she could that he was feinting, "Why do think its something bad? Maybe I'll just change my mind, since you don't want it." He was teasing her again, but she was too curious to care.

"Okay, I want it, what is it? What does this have to do with…Wait…your not…are going to give it to me?" She new she looked pitifully hopeful, but that was what she was going for; she'd liked the black bird from the moment she'd seen it; and it had liked her back; and she certainly didn't want it to be destroyed…

Gainel pretended to be indifferent. "After I fix it up a bit…I suppose I could give it to you…" he said.

"Oh, thank you—thank you—thank you!" she was jumping up and down with excitement. No one had ever given her such an amazing gift.

"Now, hold on a moment," he said being serious again, "It is going to look different than it does now, because of all the damage that was imposed on it."

"That's fine!" She was so excited she could barely contain herself; and then she had a thought, "Oh, but can you make it white?" she asked.

"White?…I suppose I could, why?" Gainel looked a little confused, "It looked fine black."

"Trust me, It'll look better white."

"How do you know?" Gainel was unconvinced by her lack of explanation.

"I'm a woman I know these things!" she said emphatically, but the God adopted a straight face that was more cynical than any sneer could ever have been.

"You're twelve." Gainel said.

"Twelve and a _half_!"

"Same difference to me," he said shaking his head with a sigh, "this is ridiculous, but fine, it can be white."

"Yay!" She cried.

Gainel had been wondering this whole time how he would be able to keep Lynn safe when he couldn't watch her himself, and turning his favorite construct into a special immortal, had seemed the perfect plan.

Even with the critique of his work by a twelve year old shape shifter.

It would look different yes, because of the damage, but mostly because of its new purpose. This immortal would have to be able to change realms easily and often without growing tired or week. It would need to communicate much better to him and to her, if it was to be useful. The ability to become in visible or unnoticeable would also be a plus; also having it's one magic could help it enormously. And it would need to be able to Phase shift, just as Sarralyn could.

And it needed emotions, because something with a passion for it's job would undoubtedly perform such a mission with all its soul. And this creature would have a soul, because that was what happened when you gave something emotion, memory, and the capacity to think.

This wasn't going to be just any immortal. For one thing it wasn't born completely of human dreams; his own imagination, the imagination of a Great God, was going to be incorporated into its make-up. Such a creature had never been created before, of this he knew. It would be more powerful, have fewer weaknesses, and it would be one of a kind.

Gainel went to work re-shaping the construct. The bird shape it already had was perfectly fine and Lynn had seemed to like it anyways, but it needed to be bigger.

It's original size had been about eighteen inches with a wingspan of fifty-six inches. He tripled it to three feet tall with a wingspan of eleven feet. He heard Lynn gasped at the sudden size increase, but when he looked at her she seemed delighted instead of scared, as he thought she might be.

It's many eyes were perfect for keeping vigilant, especially after he made it so the bird could move its eyes separately in any direction, gave it enhanced vision and The Sight. Gainel made the brain very large to keep up with all the enhancements being made upon it. This would be a very smart being; nothing else would due.

Now for it's magical capabilities. Here was where he'd have to make the most compromises in its physical appearance. Unlike in humans, the magical abilities an immortal possessed had a great effect on its overall appearance. A creature with an affinity for wind was not going to be able to look like a fish and swim in the ocean, and a creature with an affinity for earth would certainly not be capable of having wings and living only in the air.

It would need some wind magic, to keep it aloft. Even with its hollow bones, it was fairly heavy. The ability to compress air to create barriers would also be helpful if something were to try and attack Lynn physically. The ability to disrupt magic and change shape was a distinct ability of chaos property. And becoming unnoticeable was a neutral ability. The ability to traverse realms had a divine affinity.

As an artist, the aesthetics of the creature were very important, but Gainel was very surprised how well it turned out.

The neck had lengthened, as had the tale and wings. It silver beak and claws proclaimed it a magical being to anyone who looked upon it. To appease Lynn he had made it white, but the rings that surrounded the large, color-shifting false-eyes that had appeared all over its wings and tail, were black. Extremely colorful plumage now crested the bird's head, accenting it's whirling jeweled covered eyes.

Gainel decided it would do, and he brought it to life. The bird opened its seven eyes and let out a soft chime

"She's perfect!" Lynn exclaimed. The bird immortal hopped on Gainel's shoulder than swooped to flutter silently onto Lynn's. Lynn flinched before it landed, expecting the immortal to be very heavy, but to her surprise, she could barely feel that it was there.

"How do you know it's a female?" Gainel asked her as Lynn gazed on the bird adoringly.

"I know a girl when I see one." she said, "especially when she's an animal or immortal."

Gainel examined the bird's aura and was actually surprised to see that she was a girl, Lynn had been right.

Gainel just shrugged.

"Gainel, trying out new frames for magical animals? You haven't made any new ones in ages. Creating these 'immortals', as you call them, used to be your favorite hobby." came a sly voice from behind them, but Gainel had been expecting it, if not the insult hidden behind every phrase.

He turned to see a tall and thin, but well-muscled sapphire-blue haired man with golden skin and a long face with a razor thin nose and a very business-like smile in a blue plumed, golden helm, and golden legionary-armor over a formal white pleated tunic rimmed in blue. The helm, arm braces and golden sandals of the god all had rather large white wings fluttering furiously along with the symbol of the sun set in a ring.

"Your sire knows that it wasn't a hobby."

"Yes well, he is the one in charge after all. I don't see any use for them." The god said haughtily.

"Well, you wouldn't now would you?" he said cryptically, and let the grave insult the lesser god had inflicted upon him rest for the moment. "I thought you would be here sooner." Gainel answered, for it was true.

"Well, it seems you know why I'm here then." The man said with a haughty smile. Gainel frowned; the other god was talking to him like he was an idiot.

He had only ever been called to stand in Mithros's court less then a handful of times, and every time he had been fairly meek and well mannered, even when the herald of Mithros had grown snobbish and sneering, mostly because he'd had no cause to do otherwise, and because he had been enforcing the image of a unassuming Dream King.

Gainel saw that his acting unimpressive had sorely undermined his own authority among the gods. If Gainel was going to stand in front as a wall between the little shape-shifter next to him and the entirety of Chaos, he'd have to remedy that—_Immediately_.

"Of course I know why you're here, _Equitus_. The Chaos-gate was opened in my realm without warning or reason, and five Chaos-constructs were released to cause mass havoc and destruction. _Tell me how this happened, Equitus_?"

_Equitus_ was one of those younger generation idiots that had the nerve to think they could best one of the Great Gods; he needed to be clued into reality. Gainel realized that it was partly his own doing that he was seen as such an ineffectual individual, but it still wasn't anything close to a legitimate excuse.

To mortals, his behavior at being seen as a lesser god when, in fact, he wasn't, might seem extreme, but in the politics of the gods it was a major offence, comparable to a slave brutally beating his master.

Lynn saw the guards placed on the Great Gods energy dissipate while at the same time, shields popped up around her, masking most of the glory flowing in visible waves off of the being before her.

He was so full of Light and Darkness all at once, his features perfected and blazing, his dark, severe coat and slacks had subtle silk patterns of white, gray, silver that twisted even as one looked at them. His perfect light skin and dark hair were only frames for his eyes, which were shifting pools of color, first turquoise blue with bubbles of gold, then a fountain of red shaded with violet, then silver sprinkled with green... She realized that this was what she'd thought Gainel was supposed to look all along, and it took her breath away.

**"_I believe, that you owe me an explanation, hmm? Haven't you anything to say? I believe it is one of your jobs to over-see the seals placed upon of the Chaos-gate, isn't it?"_**

None of the Second Generation Gods had ever seen Gainel in his full glory, they only saw the shadow they _thought_ was the true Gainel. This was the Master of Dream, the one they all thought was week and oblivious.

_Equitus _seemed to realize he'd made a grave mistake. He was shaking and his own godly sheen seemed drab, even pitiful in comparison.

"Milord, I…" he stammered, but Gainel waved his hand.

"**_Silence, you'll have time to make your inconsequential excuses in the Court of the Gods. If my guess is correct, then you have a proclamation summoning us there, yes? Then do your job, don't just stand there gaping like a fool."_** Gainel commanded.

_Equitus_nodded furiously, eager to do as he was told, barely taking note of the mortal standing just behind the Great God and the large immortal standing on her shoulder.

"If you would please follow me, Milord, lady." The herald of the gods bowed almost to his knees then nervously led them through the divine realms to the court of the gods.****

_And that ether-being known as Providence watched on. _


	7. Part I: The Court of the Gods

If you thought I was Tamora Pierce, wow…I don't even know what to say to that, except that I'm not.

**I FINALLY HAVE PROOF THAT POSTING MAKES MISTAKES!** My copy of chapter 6 has there being a space between the words 'Equitus' and 'seemed'. But the post shows there NOT being a space. Whaho! What now posting system? WHAT. NOW! Mwahahaha! …Yes, I'm a loony.

** Review Responses! Find your name here!**

Thanks everyone who reviewed! And yes, Gainel is really powerful and cool (would I like him so much if he wasn't?), Gainel is at least as powerful as Mithros, he's one of he Great Gods, and in my Universes there's a BIG difference between the Great Gods and Lesser Gods; that's why Equitus was being really stupid in acting so snobbish. I don't know if I impressed that enough in the last chapter; but undermining a great gods authority by being a little twit is so beyond any sort of insult I can conjure to explain it so…yeah

**Colleen**, yay a new reviewer! Thanks for the review! Yes, I like to keep everyone as in character as possible and do the original stories justice, while still having it be something new and different, I'm glad you like how this is turning out! Woohoo, Gainel! I need to make a fanclub; anyone who wants-in is welcome, even if you don't thoroughly love him…like I do…you can just like him, we'll be the Gainel-Groopies…

**Numair's Lover**, hope you had a great vacation! I know when my family drove up to Oklahoma this summer from southern California, that the drive was annoying as hell. I dunno if you ever had to do a two day straight drive, but it's pretty boring, a lot of sleeping, (or just lying there anyways) went on. That's actually when I started writing up this fic, pretty nifty eh?

And I know I like long chapters, so I like to make mine as lengthy as the story will allow. This story's chapters didn't turn out very long, but my sailor moon fanfic had chapters that were +6,000 words, which was pretty insane to try and write.

Well, keep reviewing, I love reviews, I think they make me update faster, seriously.

**Ivory Nightshade, **if you review you'll be up here! Thanks for the review on this chapter!

**Nativewildmage **thanks for reviewing! The bird is actually kind of important, it'll be in later chapters, glad you like her; I'm still trying to think of a name for herthough, I don't know why but I keep thinking of only weird names…whatever. Yeah, the last one was a long chapter for this fic, but don't worry this one's shorter, it's the last installment of part one, after that its full speed into part too.

Review please! I love reviews…

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part I: The Court of the Gods**

_Equitus _seemed to realize he'd made a grave mistake. He was shaking and his own godly sheen seemed drab, even pitiful in comparison to the sheer amount of energy radiating from Gainel's person.

"Milord, I…" he stammered, but Gainel waved his hand and the messenger immediately became mute.

"**_Silence, you'll have time to make your inconsequential excuses in the Court of the Gods. If my guess is correct, then you have a proclamation summoning us there, yes? Then do your job, don't just stand there gaping like a fool."_** Gainel commanded.

_Equitus _nodded furiously, eager to do as he was told, barely taking note of the mortal standing just behind the Great God and the large immortal standing on her shoulder.

"If you would please follow me, Milord, lady." The herald of the gods bowed almost to his knees then nervously led them through the divine realms to the court of the gods.

**_"Come," _**Gainel said, and held out his hand for Lynn to take.

Lynn nearly hesitated; the court of Mithros was where mortals came to be judged after they died. She was scared of what would become of her there, but as she thought about it realized she wasn't dead, and even if there was some sort of judgment, she'd done nothing wrong and been a passably good person up to this point in her life.

And besides, Gainel was there. She trusted him and he'd promised to get her home somehow, so if anything happened, he'd help her out of it; she was sure.

The bird-immortal let out a chain of echoing chimes, as Lynn took the Lord of Dream's hand and began to phase as Gainel did so to follow Equitus. The shield made by Gainel was still enveloping her senses and she couldn't make out the landscapes they passed by, it was mostly black, with a few lighter splashes ever now and again.

Equitus was nearly lured out as well. The Herald's godly aura pulsated at a slightly uneven rate, and though he shined with a great light, the shield Gainel had placed to keep her senses safe from the gods' auras, made him simply glow slightly. Gainel's aura however, was threatening to swallow the other gods up, as well as make Lynn squint, even through the dark screen.

From the darkness, a giant set of Gold double-doors, both bearing the Sun-in-circle emblem of Mithros made themselves known and Equitus looked extremely relieved to have arrived, even after such a short trip.

The Herald pulled a Golden trumpet seemingly out of nowhere, and was about to blow on it when the bird immortal chimed a little tune. The God fumbled, startled and sweating bullets even as he realized he was keeping Gainel from the court.

Narrowing his eyes at the bird, he blew a blasting metallic tone from the trumpet and the doors swung open.

A slight breath of wind swept past Lynn as the Giant doors moved apart soundlessly. The air seemed to fizz and snap as Gainel walked in, pulling her along behind him, after he was announced.

It's lucky for me that Gainel had been clever enough to put that shield up, Lynn thought as she walked into the hall. Even with he shield it was dangerously bright. She was stunned to silence as she saw a dark-skinned man in full-gold-metal plate-armor and a helm-like crown marked with the sun insignia and rays of tremendous heat. In his right hand, he held a golden spear, in his left, a magistrate's hammer in his right.

To his left was a bare-chested, ivory-skinned woman with pleats of silver chiffon flowing from her bodice, in layers of light fabric that cove all but her feet and arms, which were wrapped by giant jade-colored snakes. The silver crown atop her dark tresses had a veil of silver moon-rays that cast shadows and ripples upon all they touched.

Mithros and The Great Mother Goddess; they were the monarchs of the Gods.

Arrayed alongside them were a number of other gods, many she did not recognize, although she could tell they were Great Gods by the sheer amount of glorious light they exuded.

Among the gods she did recognize were The Black God, his features hidden beneath a great, black robe, and Kyprioth the Great Trickster God, in his Copper Isles clothing, peppered-beard and elder-statesman-feel. Aly had described him too her once.

He was snickering and giving Gainel the 'thumbs-up' sign; Gainel was shaking his head wearily, wearing his blank-face, but Lynn felt that the Trickster's reaction had heartened him.

Lynn wasn't quite sure what Kyprioth thought was so funny, until she noticed the looks displayed on every other god in the hall. They were staring at Gainel in utter shock.

"**_Gainel, Brother,"_** Mithros asked warily, in a voice like the clash of steel, **_"What has angered you so that you would come to the Hall of the Gods with such a display? You were summoned only so that we may understand what took place in your Realm."_**

Gainel raised an eyebrow at Mithros's statement, and Lynn had he feeling that Mithros was _not_ Gainel's favorite relative. The bolts of heat lightening that zigzagged alone Gainel's aura where the two lights clashed, also gave it away.

Mithros seemed to have noticed them to and was looking at them from the corner of his eye with a slight frown. A strange goddess that gave Lynn the impression of wind was leaning to look at the edge of Gainel's aura curiously when a small bolt of lightening shot to singe her finger, and she snapped back with a slight yelp.

All of the Great Gods looked slightly bewildered, whether they were bothering to hide it or not, and Lynn got the impression of muffled voices as if the Gods were convening, even though none moved to so much as open their mouths.

Apparently, however, Mithros must have noticed as well, for he beat his hammer on the block, calling for silence, and the sounds of whispering voices stopped.

"**_Brother, why don't you speak?"_** Mithros asked.

"**_I wish to be listened to, Brother, not merely heard."_** was Gainel's emotionless answer. Mithros and The Goddess exchanged confused glances.

"**_We are listening Brother,"_** The Goddess told him, seeming almost anxious. All the Gods held blank-faces, but Lynn could sense that most had never seen Gainel acting this way, and were on their guard.

**_"My Realm was attacked by Uusoae's constructs"_** he told them, and the air was flooded with muffled voices, just unable to be distinguished, but loud enough that they were blaring in Lynn's mind even with Gainel's shield protecting her week mortal senses.

They hadn't known about the attack, Lynn realized, they only knew that something important had happened. Mithros banged the hammer, calling for silence once again, as Gainel explained what had happened from the moment Sarralyn had arrived to the present.

She did notice, however, that he didn't mention that she's claimed him as his patron. But Lynn was not sad or disappointed; in fact, she was relieved. Lynn had the distinct feeling that if any of the other Gods found out about it Gainel could be in trouble.

She also didn't want to draw attention to herself; the other gods were already casting her odd glances, after Gainel had revealed his opinion that the chaos-constructs had been specifically dispatched to capture her.

"**_Mortal,"_** The goddess said addressing her with a voice like the baying of hounds, **_"Have you any insight as to why Uusoae covets you?"_**

Lynn felt the full attention of the Great Goddess pointed at her and almost bent knee to worship her before she could make her legs stop. Gainel was her Patron, not the Goddess; Lynn needed only to respect her greatness.

Lynn thought she saw the Dreamer smile but when she turned he wore only a peaceful expression.

"No, your greatness." Lynn answered, trying not to betray her fear, "I don't have any idea." The Immortal bird crooned a chiming agreement.

The Gods continued to talk, but Lynn wasn't listening; she hadn't realized how tired she was until how. Her legs were aching, she didn't know how long she'd been standing in the Golden Hall, but it seemed like ages.

"**_Then it is agreed,"_** the voice of Mithros boomed throughout the hall, **_"Gainel has already agreed to watch the mortal, for interference by Uusoae,"_** Mithros seemed to be slightly suspicious as to how this would be accomplished, but didn't say anything against it. **_"Now, to the problem of the seals upon the realm of chaos…"_** he began as he turned his head and eying _Equitus_ who was standing at his post in front of the doors to the gold hall, sweating buckets and looking fit or a panic-attack.

"_**Ah, Divine Brother…"**_

"**_Yes, Brother, I have not forgotten. We will send the mortal back to the living realms."_** Mithros assured Gainel.

The Dream King bent down to speak with her.

"This is goodbye, it seems," he said sadly, now in his normal whisper, while all the other gods chatted, occasionally casting disapproving looks to the Herald standing at the door, and not paying attention to them at all.

"But not forever, right? I'll see you again, won't I?" Lynn felt like crying; the way Gainel was talking this seemed permanent.

"You have this girl here to watch out for you," he told her absently petting the large winged-immortal, "She'll tell me if you are in trouble," he assured her, but Lynn wasn't satisfied.

"But can't you come to see me? Or I could come to see you, if you can't. Maybe I'll figure out how to—"

"No," he interrupted, the shadows under his eyes were retuning and lynn nearly wept at the sight of them, "Even if you could, I would not want you to. It is much easier for Uusoae to capture you here, then it would be in the living realms."

"But…" she sighed, dejected. Was she never going to see him again?

Gainel saw the disappointment written all over the young girl's face. He had thought she'd be happy to be rid of him, but it seemed that she disliked it almost as much as he did. And he wasnt hurting like he hadn't in ages.

"I could…" he began, not sure if he was being too presumptuous, "visit you…in your dreams. If you didn't mind." He suggested nervously, but Lynn's face shown with a great smile.

"If your not too busy…" The hope was clear on her face

"I won't be too busy."

"You Promise?" she asked.

"I promise." He said, "Good bye, Lynn." And he backed away from her as Mithros asked her if she was ready.

She nodded absent-mindedly, her grey eyes not leaving the shifting pools of the Master of Dream's.

There was a great light and she felt like she was being hurled at a high speed—

—And she landed with a flop on the ordinary armchair of the dark Palace Library, dappled twilight filtering through the open windows, four days after the day she'd disappeared, and feeling like her world had lost all it's meaning.

_The Ether-being known as Providence sighed in resignation, looking forward towards the future… _


	8. Interlude 2

I don't own very little, and anything you recognize from Tammy's books definitely isn't one of the few things I _do _own.

**Review Responses! Yes!**

**Feifiefofum**, thanks for the two great reviews! I'm glad you can still tolerate to read my fanfics even with their frequent errors, I was pretty sure pretty sure I did all my toos/tos/twos right, I'll have to take a look over them again. It also doesn't help that the keys on my dad's laptop are fickle and love to make the sound like when they press in a key, but then the screen doesn't echo it. I'm rather frustrated with it really.

A couple things about your predictions: No, the balance I'm talking about it's the balance between male and female; if you didn't understand that, then keep reading, It'll be explained later. And Uusoae doesn't want Sarralyn for revenge on Daine. She doesn't so much blame Daine as she blames Gainel and the other gods who arranged it; she likes to cut right to the heart of the matter.

Although she knows very well that Sarralyn is Daine's daughter, she wants her for a different reason, it'll be explained later.

And yes, I do like anime. I have never heard of argentosoma, but if I ever get the chance I'll take a look. Although angst usually makes me annoyed to, I like psychological based things, as well as drama, so sometimes a plot has enough of the rest to make the angst less apparent.

Usually I want to smack the person who's being angst, (if they are being that way for no apparent reason,) or cry like a mad woman (if it's legitimate). And I hate sad endings. There's no two ways about it. If the end is sad, I'll probably hate it, unless it's the sort of sad ending that still has an uplifting message and the person is at peace or whatever.

**_VERY IMPORTANT TO REALIZE! STARTING HERE EVERYTHING TAKES PLACE FIVE YEARS AFTER PART I!_**

This means that Sarralyn is seventeen, got it? Alrighty-then, you're set! Warning for a great amount of love and fluff stuffed into a tiny chapter! The genre has been romance since the beginning; time to find out why! Even though it's short, you all will like this one, I guarantee it.

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

_**Interlude 2 Dreams**_

_Thunder boomed overhead as heat lightening raced across the blackened sky. The wind picked up and the looming clouds raced across the countryside. Flashes from within the storm clouds lit the sky before echoing booms shook the air. The heavens opened up and it began to rain._

_Lynn loved the rain. Most people thought it was gloomy and a nuisance, but she'd always loved sound of raindrops splashing to the ground, and lately she'd grown rather fond of Lightening with it's playful forks of electricity arching along the clouds or reaching out toward the earth in a single, concentrated bolt._

_She found the aspects of a storm exhilarating. The rain, the wind, the clouds, the thunder, the lightening…she loved it all. And it was always shifting, changing, breaking apart, dissipating, and then reforming anew._

_And it wasn't angry; it wasn't cruel. It wasn't vengeful or destructive-minded or grudge holding; it was just itself. It was at peace. And though it's lightening could set fire to trees houses of buildings, it's rain could help plants grow, keep animals or a town from growing thirsty and starving from lack of food._

_It was at peace with itself, and wouldn't wish to be any other way._

_And that was the way she felt now, sitting on His lap with her arms rapped him and his around her, with her cheek pressed to his chest just listening to his chest rise up and down to the tempo of his breathing, as around them the storm continued it's path._

"_I just wish," she said, "That things could always be this way; I wish that we could be together."_

"_So do I," he said, "I want you always beside me; you make me feel, like I can do anything, everything." He hugged her closer and she squeezed him back, the large swell of her chest starting to ache from the compression of their bodies, but she didn't want him to ever let go._

"_You can do anything. I believe it." she said, "When you're with me, I feel safe."_

_She stroked his chest and he leaned his head down to press his cheek against hers. He didn't know how he'd ever lived without her, and every moment spent in her company was never wasted._

_She unbuttoned his shirt and put her hand on his bare chest, running it up and down._

"_I wish I could be perfect for you, like you are for me." She said tears welling up in her eyes._

_He didn't want to see her cry; he didn't think he could bear it. He grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulling her away from him to look into her storm gray irises, telling her truthfully "No one could be more perfect for me than you."_

_She smiled through her tears, and giggled slightly, wiping her eyes with the side of her hand before he cupped her cheek to dry her eyes with his own._

"_I love you," he told her, "Please say you love me, too."_

"_I love you, too," She said, "But why choose me? Any goddess would have you." _

"_I didn't need them, I needed you." He said sincerely._

"_I want it to be true, but I can't let myself. What if you change your mind?"_

"_I won't change my mind."_

"_You promise?"_

"_I promise, let me prove it to you," his breath washed over her and they both arched as they're lips met and tingled like an electric shock._

_Of their own volition, Gainel's hands went to her bodice and began to fumble at the buttons; She helped him as he nearly pulled some off with his shaking fingers._

"_You'll never be alone again." She said breathlessly to him in between kisses as the bodice was removed and she set to work on the buttons of his slacks, "Not for as long as you live."_

"_You promise?" the hunger for her words was evident in his sapphire eyes as great bubbles of gold swirled into them._

"_I promise."_

—Lynn opened her eyes wishing the dream she'd just had wasn't a dream at all but true; she couldn't bear the thought that He might see how she felt about him, her greatest fear, and probably the truth, was that he didn't feel the same way. How could she hold on to such a foolish and vain hope, how could she be anything he'd want?

—Gainel shook himself from his own daydreams, hating his lack of self-control as he drifted off into his own fantasies when there was work to be done, and the bar that kept him from the thing he cared about the most; more than all the realms combined. How could he ever have thought she might care for him, how could he ever be anything she'd want?

_Providence wept as two beings, one mortal, the other godly, but both waking from thoughts they were ashamed of, because they each thought they could never come true._


	9. Part II: Matters of the Heart

I don't own anything…I'm a minor. I do have a car and my own insurance, but that's only so my parents are less liable for damage, and technically it's mine, but in reality it's theirs. It's funny how that works.

**Review Response time! My Favorite!**

**Colleen**, thanks for the review! You didn't like the short chapter? Well, here's a real long one, no need to thank me.

I never disregard what anyone tells me about my fics, I want to make them as best as I can. I only disregard things about spelling mistakes, because I already know about them; I need a beta but I'm just too damn lazy to get one, either that or re-go over them myself better. But I swear, posting causes mistakes, it does, I saw the proof for myself!

And about the overall forward-ness in the dream, you're very right that he'd probably much shyer in real life, but you've got to keep in mind that it was a dream; that was just what they both wanted to happen. And it wasn't a dream that either of them knew the other was having. That might have confused you, now that I think about it; I should have made it clearer. Gainel can take a peak in any dream he wants whenever he wants, but he isn't omni-aware about all of them at once, just like the Gods don't hear the thoughts of everyone in the world, only when you pray to them. He was daydreaming himself; The Great Gods don't really sleep, unless they want to.

Actually it's funny you mention that, because when Gainel gets nervous he goes into denial about it. Case in point, this chapter. He's really fun to torture, in tension filled circumstances, not with actual weapon's or anything.

This chapter starts part two. It's starts to explain what they've been up to since the end of part one.

And yes, I TOTALLY ABSOLUTELY WANT TO READ YOUR FIC WITH GAINEL! You can be the first member of the Gainel fanclub, after me of course. And if anyone ever wants to use my version of Gainel or anything from my fic at all, I give absolute permission to do anything you want. All they have to do is tell me in a review, (so I know about if and can read the fanfic, cuz I would want to,) and mention my fanfiction and give me credit for all my stuff. I don't know if anyone would ever _want_ to use my stuff, but if they did, that's all they'd have to do.

Oh and did I tell anyone that my story has been put in a C2? Whoever put it there, wow I'm so honored, drop me a review sometime! This is just wicked awesome. It's in the C2 **The Sanctuary for Interesting Pairings.** Anyone wants to put this fic in a C2 is welcome, not that there's much I can do about it anyways.

**Nativewildmage** thank you for calling me cool! And for reviewing! In reality I'm actually a book nerd, so being called cool is a major thing for me, Yay! 

And your fics are awesome NWM, I'm half way through Plots&Plans Part two so expect another review when I finish it (gives a thumb ups) Woohoo!

**Numair's Lover **Thank you for reviewing again! I don't want to give away what happens, but I can tell it'll be something you didn't expect, or at least something I don't think you'd think to expect. I mean, for all I know you did expect it. 

And type as much as you want in a review, just make paragraphs when they are kind of long, because when it's all in one big paragraph like that, all the letters just blur together and I loose my place. I'm weird like that.

And sugar highs sound great, but unfortunately for me, I have a huge tolerance for caffeine and sugar. I drink like seven cans of soda a day and I'm still as mellow and interesting as a tree. Sugar is the same. I'll get sick before I get hyper. And getting sick would take about twelve giant sized Hershey's chocolate bars. Yeah, I'm weird like that.

**Feifiefofum** thanks for the review! I just love to hear you talk; it's so funny, in a good way mind you. I guess funny isn't the right word, entertaining would be more apt. 

I actually do like mecha. Girls are allowed to like action, Gundumn wing is like my favorite anime, except that Dorothy should just get over herself, and Relena should just die…period. If it's got action you can count me in. And it really does sound great, I'm gonna keep my eye out for it. Is there a manga? Is it as good do you know? I wanna see all this stuff, it's just getting a hold of any of it that's bothersome.

And hey, formula is formula, and formula is good by itself, but it's all your extras that make it great, like the chocolate, caramel, butterscotch and white chocolate chips, pecans, M&Ms, bits of snickers, Butterfinger bars and Reeses Pieces that really make it fantastic.

Hopefully it will turn out great. Thanks for the support, and keep reviewing, cuz we all know I do love them so…

**Review everyone! Please?** Especially you people who are totting off with a free ride and not reviewing. Yes, I know you're there, my stats says +15 people have read chapter 8, and I got how many reviews? Four? So review, please? I do love you all so…

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part II: Matters of the Heart**

—Lynn opened her eyes wishing the dream she'd just had wasn't a dream at all but true; she couldn't bear the thought that He might see how she felt about him, her greatest fear, and probably the truth, was that he didn't feel the same way. How could she hold on to such a foolish and vain hope, how could she be anything he'd want?

As soon as she'd been dropped into the armchair, one of the palace servants had come in to light a fire in the hearths and noticed her. There was uproar of activity in which everyone in the palace she knew came to make sure she was in one piece.

Both her mother and her father had given her arm-wrenching hugs, and even her little brother Rikash had looked relieved and for once, hugged her of his own volition and stood up to his other friend's comments about it.

It hadn't seemed like four days to her, but apparently it really had been, and she wasn't the disappearing type. Her father, her aunt Alanna, Thom, and even the king had been scrying for her the whole time and not coming up with anything at all.

Numair had demanded an immediate explanation, but her mother had convinced him that they should let her have a cup of tea and something to eat, because she must have been tired. And besides, Daine had wanted a look at the bird-immortal that had been ghosting Lynn since she'd returned, and who's chiming cries were the real reason the Palace servant had noticed she was anyone other that an ordinary late night reader.

But Lynn wasn't really hungry or tired, it had only seemed like a few hours to her mind, and though she wasn't feeling all that uppity, it wasn't as if she was sick. So when they'd got back to their rooms in the palace, she had refused anything to eat or drink and just began to explain the situation.

It turned out to be pretty boring really. She didn't tell her parents that she was attacked; she didn't want to worry them. She had all her faith in her knew immortal friend keeping her safe. The bird couldn't speak anymore that the young dragon kitten could, but she could some how make her meaning known, as kitten could. The little dragonet and the bird often talked together, if that was what it could be called.

She'd also left out the part about Gainel being her patron now, and how they'd talked so much. For some reason it didn't seem right to tell, and besides, what humans knew, the gods could find out, and she still thought Gainel would get into trouble if any of them found out. And before she could even think of a way to explain how she'd been able to hear what the Dream King had said, her father had asked her if he'd gotten a construct to translate for him, and she simply said yes. She didn't like to lie, but it all seemed necessary to her mind.

Her parents had accepted the story, even if her father looked a little suspicious, as if thinking "there had to have been more to it then that". But eventually her little escapade was forgotten, and everything went back to normal.

Or at least almost normal, her father wanted to know how she'd been able to phase-shift and asked her to repeat it, but Lynn couldn't remember what another phase felt like, she just couldn't do it without something there for her to compare herself to. And though they practiced and tried for some time, eventually her father decided it wasn't going to work, and they gave it up for the time being.

For the first week she'd went to sleep hoping to see Gainel. He had promised to visit her, but when every night she woke up having had ordinary dreams, she figured he must have forgotten or that he had been to busy after all.

People noticed that she always seemed distracted and not really there. Many asked if she felt well, but other than the fact that she felt forgotten and alone for the first time in her life, she was perfectly fine, and she just gave them a smile and told them she was great. Her excuse became that she had just been thinking.

She picked up a reputation for being rather absent-minded. She'd stop speaking in the middle of sentences, forget what she was talking about, not notice when someone was speaking to her.

She was feeling horribly rejected until one night a month after she'd returned, she opened her eyes expecting to be awake and found that she was sitting in a chair fully dressed, with Gainel sitting in another opposite her.

She expected him to look blurred and shadowed again, but he didn't. He looked exactly the way she remembered him before she'd been sent back: dark hair, light skin, color-shifting eyes and all. He was, however, missing the aura of lightening.

"You did come after all!" She said excitedly, "I was worried you'd forgotten…"

He seemed rather surprised that she'd actually been looking forward to seeing him again. "I didn't forget," he said. His voice wasn't the faint whisper she'd remembered, it seemed more real and substantial than that; but it was just as soft and she found that she liked it.

"I just didn't believe you'd want to see me so soon." He explained, but she could tell what he meant, He had thought _she_ would have forgotten about _him_.

"Well," she said, "I know you're busy, and time runs differently from here to there, but…if you don't mind…" Lynn didn't know how to ask him to come more often without sounding selfish, but it turned out she didn't have to.

"I'll come more."

It was a fact. He visited her at least once a week, he said he would have come more, but his post kept him from doing so. As it was, He often had to leave in the middle of conversations, because dawn was approaching, and with her return to the real world.

What they talked about was subject to what Lynn had to say. The Divine realms didn't change very much, Gainel said, and though he would sometimes tell her what the gods thought Uusoae was up to, it wasn't very often, and it didn't really change.

Mostly Lynn would say what had been bothering her that week, and Gainel would try to help her with it. She'd thought he would think it boring and tedious to listen to, but every time she would ask if he wanted to change the subject, he'd say no.

The daytime seemed less real in comparison, those days. Nothing overtly exciting ever happened, and Lynn took to reading. And not just Romantic novels that the court ladies often fawned over, or adventure books that the palace pages and squires liked, but philosophy and science, too.

It got to be that it was hard for her to just sit down somewhere and read after lessons were over, because most of the other girls her age thought it was their duty to get her to "have some fun."

As soon as Lynn realized she'd never get some peace since she was easy prey, for anyone who fancied to talk to her, while in the Palace library. She took to reading outside but she was still found out; the bird immortal she'd named 'Fancy', on a whim, was a dead give away as to her location.

Finally, she climbed a tree and asked Fancy to hide. It was strange how no one noticed her, only the thirteen year old reading in he tree; most everyone who walked by while she was in the tree reading, looked at her like she was touched in the head.

She knew she wasn't supposed to use her shifting powers unless it was for a good reason or she had permission from her parents or she was practicing; it was the same rule her parents had set up for Rikash, so she couldn't complain. But she did it anyways.

She turned into her favorite animal, a cat, and sat on the tree branch reading. Unfortunately, no one would realize that the black cat in the tree was Lynn, and someone would tell her parents she was missing. Her father would scry and find her, but it still meant she got a lecture about the proper usage of her powers.

It took Lynn months of trying out new reading places before she found the perfect hide out: Thom's office/mage's workshop/library. He wasn't her favorite cousin for nothing.

Thom was pretty high up in the mages hierarchy these days, and had a large set of rooms in the university just for him. He was mostly obsessed with his experiments, except when it was his turn to watch his seven-year-old daughter, Tania, a white-blond haired little girl with bright green eyes.

One thing that could be said about Thom was that he knew when he was beaten. He put all his studies on hold to play with his daughter, then he'd pick them all back up as soon as his wife Naranda returned to pick her up.

Lynn assumed that Thom and Naranda had worked this system out ages ago, since they were both very serious mages. They took turns giving Tania the attention she needed, and still got their own research done.

Thom certainly wasn't going to bother her from reading, and no was casually walking through his lab; and if by chance she got bored or finished the book she had, Thom had tones of others in his huge set of giant book shelves. And if she got _exceptionally_ bored, she could always give Thom a brake and play with Tania awhile.

Tania was perhaps the only little kid she actually _liked_ to be around, she was always interested in everything, especially Fancy. The immortal was a sure fire way to keep her occupied for hours. Kitten would even come by every once in a while from her Father and Mother's rooms to join in the fun.

Occasionally however, Thom was doing sensitive or powerful experiments and needed her to leave the workroom.

She thought about going to her Father's workroom instead, but decided not to, she needed to get outside. Lynn left her book in her room and went to walk around the palace training yards.

The day before had been her fifteenth birthday, and Gainel had visited. What was even more surprising had been that he'd known and done it especially because of it. From what Lynn had heard from her mother about the Badger god, they didn't mark the time very well and she thought Gainel had been very thoughtful to remember.

It was actually the first time he'd ever told her happy birthday, she'd only mentioned her others in passing and he hadn't really shown any that much interest, but he said that, since it was her birthday, they could do anything she wanted.

"Anything I want?" she'd asked confusedly, "what do you mean?"

He'd shrugged, "Well this is a dream, and I am the Dream King, as it were."

"Then you mean, that we could make the scenery like, say, a tropical sunset?"

"Yes, anything you want," he'd said.

Over the years they'd talked of many things; and not only about her.

The philosophy books she read? Most of them were about the relationships between the gods, humans and other beings in the realms, their powers and places in the universal equilibrium. She'd wanted to understand what those dedicated to the gods did; and how they fit into things.

What she couldn't find out or didn't particularly understand, she'd ask Gainel. She often thought that she shouldn't know these sorts of things. They were for the Gods to know, not mortals; but whenever she'd ask Gainel, why he was telling her such things, he'd shrug and say, "Because he could."

But because of her asking questions, she knew that actually changing someone's dream the way was going to, used up a lot of power. It took a lot of energy for him to just visit her; but she didn't want him to stay away, so she didn't say anything more on the subject.

"Anything I want? Anything?" Lynn had asked, he'd nodded, "Then I want…it to look…"she was having trouble thinking of what she wanted. Well, she knew what she wanted but…

Lynn had decided to go for it. She hadn't _thought_ Gainel would get mad…but one never knew with the gods, even if it was _Gainel_ to whom she talked to every week and now seemed as human as anyone, more even, Lynn liked being with him more than any other person, and he even smiled now. Real grins too, not just the little smiles he had given to comfort a little girl away from home. And he always laughed when she told him a funny story…

"I want," she had said, "for it to look like the Shazdale meadow, outside Mage's Tower, at sunset."

The Shazdale meadow was her favorite place anywhere, and it was lucky for her that it was right near her home, Mage's Tower. It was unlucky however, that her parent's did a lot of work for the crown, so most of the year she lived with them at the Palace, and she didn't get to see it.

It was just a small little clearing set on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean, covered in dark green grass and containing a large, flat rock, perfect for sitting and looking at the sunset. It was called simply 'the flat-rock' and could fit about six people just sitting; _maybe_ three lying down, if they were squished together.

And she was there, she could even smell the salty air, and see Mage's Tower not more than a couple of miles away, farther from the shore.

"Very nice choice," Gainel had said.

Lynn sat down on the flat-rock, "And now I want," she had said, "For you and me to sit together on the flat-rock."

"Alright," he said, and came and sat down next to her, he seemed really nervous for some reason, Lynn could tell, and not just with her strange senses. He kept leaning toward her, slightly flinching then holding himself slightly away from her, before forgetting himself, and leaning near her again.

Lynn didn't know whether this meant he wanted to sit closer to her but didn't know what she'd think, or…well she wasn't sure what else it could mean, but her mind kept telling her it was a ridiculous thought, even though she wanted it to be true.

She wasn't sure when she'd started thinking of wanting Gainel as more than a friend, but she knew it would only cause trouble in the end. How could a god like mortal? But then her traitorous mind would remind her of her Grandparents, and she'd dare to hope…before reality swept in and told her she was only fifteen, and he'd lived for how many centuries? Then her treacherous wit would remind her of her parents, they had a big age difference too. Her Ma had only been sixteen when her father and her had realized they loved each other.

They did it; I'm related to them! Maybe I could too… 

But she didn't think she'd be so lucky; but at least she could get one hug on her birthday.

"And now I want, for you to give me a hug."

He had, and the odd thing was he didn't flinch away.

It was the best birthday present she'd ever had.

And now she was walking along the palace, the day after, just thinking, and absently looking at the fighters warming up. It was cloudy, being an early spring morning, and the occasional sprinkle of rain or fog wasn't unusual.

But she didn't really care. She sat down on the fence outside The Queen's Riders practice grounds, damp or not.

It had been two and a half years since Uusoae had attacked her in the Dream Realm, and Lynn hadn't forgotten. Why she wanted Lynn, was still a mystery, for she could tell Gainel wasn't lying when he said he didn't know.

Gainel didn't lie to her; he just looked anxious and changed the subject. Like when she'd asked him once whether Uusoae had any sort of grudge against him.

Which basically meant yes.

Lynn had always wanted to be helpful to him, and now more than ever. She knew that Uusoae was very powerful, he mother had said it had taken all the gods together to force her back into the Chaos realms the last time she'd nearly escaped. Gainel would need all the help he could get if she came after him.

She wasn't a Great God or anything, but she could at least learn to defend herself, although she knew all of that already, but she'd have to be good to stand up against a chaos-creature. She wanted to not be a hindrance, maybe even to help. Lynn didn't have the audacity to think she could be _much_ of a help, but she could do something at least.

She wasn't a black robe like her Father, and she couldn't wield a longbow like her Ma. She wasn't a swords mistress like her aunt Alanna or her cousin Alan, or very clever or a knife fighter like her uncle and cousin George and Aly. She wasn't a great scholar like her cousin Thom, or a healer like the Duke. She couldn't command an army like Raoul, or use a great magic jewel like the King.

All she was really good at was shape shifting and phase shifting, and she wasn't even very good at that. She still remembered when that chaos-creature had attacked her, and she hadn't even thought of changing into something else or phase shifting. And she couldn't even phase shift when she wanted to.

But Lynn decided she was going to practice. She'd do her very best. She would figure out how to get to the Divine realms on her own, and if Uusoae ever came after Gainel, she'd have Sarralyn Salmalín to deal with.

And maybe if she started now, Lynn could eventually be a halfway decent fighter by the time Gainel needed his charge.

"Hey Lynn, we don't see you around here often." Onua said as she noticed the shifter sitting on the fence. "What's up?"

"Nothing much Auntie Onua…but I wanted to ask you something."

The K'miri woman looked a little suspicious, "Go ahead, girl, though I don't know how I'll answer."

"Do you think you could teach me to fight?"

Onua hadn't been expecting anything like that, "To fight? You already know the basic blocks and handholds, and the punches. What are thinking of fighting for?" the horsewoman of the riders asked.

"You know, for just in case I needed to." She said, hoping the K'miri woman would buy it.

"What kind of fighting?" she said at last.

"Not with any weapons, just with hands and feet, that sort of thing," Lynn was hopeful and she let it show on her face.

_Please, please, please?_ She thought with all her might.

Onua shook her head as if wondering what she was doing, then said, "If it's that you want, then I'll tell you that I wouldn't be the best teacher. Now, don't give me that puppy-dog face," she said when Lynn put on an expression aimed to give the watcher an inane sense of guilt and pity, "I'm just saying that you should ask the Shangs, not me, I'll go with you to ask them if you'll wait for me to finish up here with the ponies."

"Oh thank you—thank you!"

"Don't mention it. Seriously don't, I have a feeling your parents don't know about this and probably wouldn't approve."

"Alright." She couldn't, in all honesty, deny it.

They'd walked over to the Pages training grounds where she'd been introduced to Eda Bell, the Shang wildcat, who'd told her that she was pretty old to suddenly want lessons now, but she could appreciate that Lynn wanted to try anyways; once she realized that she was serious about learning.

She'd never been so sore in her life since that day, but she'd didn't complain and she kept coming to the Wildcat for lessons in the afternoon, once she was done teaching the pages.

And in the mean time, in the mornings as she nursed her bruises from the day before, she practiced shifting.

Phase shifting was still shaky for her. In fact if she was honest, she still couldn't do it well at all, but she kept practicing.

By her sixteenth birthday (in which she asked for the same Gift from Gainel, and he'd smirked slightly, and even kept his arm around her for slightly longer than necessary. This had set her into more days of fantasies and 'what if's' that she had to beat into submission,) she had grown fairly adept at phasing just enough to go through a solid object, though anymore than that was beyond her.

Eda Bell was also praising her everyday, saying if she'd trained as a shang from the beginning she'd have been great. But as it was, she could beat any of the pages and most of the squires, if she cared to, in unarmed combat after only a year of training.

She was strong, fast and hard to anticipate; it also helped that she was almost six feet tall at fifteen. She wasn't likely to get any taller, her mother said she stopped growing taller at about fifteen, too, but it was a nice plus.

By the time her seventeenth birthday rolled around, her parents had found out ages ago she'd been practicing with Wildcat, people actually lined up to watch their practice bouts. Lynn never won, but she lasted and lasted, sometimes taking almost ten minutes for her to actually pin, or tire Lynn out enough that they had to stop the fight.

Eda of course, was never tired.

Luckily for Lynn, that was also the year she learned she could heal herself using her shape shifting powers. Shifting a bone wasn't much different from shifting the whole thing after all, and she wondered why it took her or anyone else so long to realize this. But at least it meant she wasn't put out she twisted her ankle when she fell wrong in a practice bout, or when she'd kicked her foot at the wildcats, and ended u with a broken toe.

And for her seventeenth birthday, she'd asked for the same thing from Gainel, and he'd looked slightly disappointed. She didn't know what that meant.

And just now, she'd had that dream, and she just ached all over and on the inside as if she went five rounds with Eda with no breaks and her being thrown around like a rag-doll.

Why did matters of the heart have to _hurt_ so much? And not on the outside or to the physical, where someone could actually _do _something about it, but on the inside in those secret places people kept to themselves, where everything hurt double because your vital organs were so close?

She lay in her bed staring at the ceiling, not really wanting to move, even though she knew she should. She wanted to scream, to pelt someone over the head, to cry…anything that would let this hurt go away. She was too old for silly fantasies and believing in dreams that could never come true.

And on this day, the threat of Uusoae was far from her mind, she seemed much too far away, when Gainel was so close, but locked away from her behind a steel door with the key missing; no with the key _never having existed in the first place_.

On this day Lynn had forgotten about Uusoae, but Uusoae had _not _forgotten about _Lynn._

_And Providence knew that the beginning had finally come._


	10. Part II: Fragility

I'm not usually the random type (oh wait, yes I am), but I just had to put this. It's it strange when you put a question mark after an explicative? Like: holy crap? Damnit? Yippee? Oh, happy-day? Woah? Wicked? Stellar? Or my personal favorite: lol?

I know I want it, but I can't have it, damned illusive copywrite franchise… (For those who haven't guessed by now, that means I don't own anything that has to do with Tortall)

Reviews! w00t! 

**Numair's Lover**, thanks for the review! And it's all you guys's great reviews and responses that keep me going, really, no joke. And that last sentence? It was aimed to please (wink!).

**Nativewildmage**, woohoo! Thanks for another review! You make my head swell so huge with all your compliments…it's tragic. But don't stop!

**WalkInDreams**, girl, your finally a fool with the rest of us fools, you got an account, but you need to stick something in it quick! I want to read your great works of fanciful-fan-fiction; especially if they have Gainel, but if not that's ok, too.

I'm glad you understand where I was coming from with interlude 2, I think it is a little vague as to whether it is a dream or a 'real-dream', as it were, but I think it's clear once people read the chapter afterward, which is fine…I hope.

And yes, I did stay as close to the Gainel in Tamora Pierce's literary works, but I haven't read RotG in ages and I was mostly going on the mental image I'd remembered him having, so It might not be the same, but I lay may fears at rest, as you had a similar picture; that's good and bad: it's good because it means he's compatible with Tammy's original, and it's bad because it means I have inane sense of memory when it comes to little details about characters in stories, but I already knew about that ability.

I can't remember what I had for breakfast, or that I had a doctors appointment the next day, or where I put my glasses (usually on my head), but I remember that Baile Doman was the river boat captain in the first Wheel of Time book when I see him again randomly appear in book three, then book four, then books six, eight, and nine. You got to remember _every_ person ever mentioned when you are reading those books, because they all pop up again in later books and are _totally important_…it's bothersome, but worth it.

But anyways…thank you for the review.

And **Ace Ryn Knight** buddy, I had thought you'd abandoned me, I was so sad. But anyways…I'm glad you like Sarralyn, she doesn't realize it yet, but she'd a pretty tough cookie these days, what with getting Shang hand-to-hand training, she's going to woop-ass. It's going to be funny when Gainel sees that she isn't an innocent little girl, he's going to freak; not be mad just totally shocked. I can almost guarantee it'll be funny (I haven't worked out all the details yet,).

And maybe when I get my lazy ass an e-mail account, you can beta my stuff, or something. Most things aren't misspelled; I just use the wrong word in place of other words by accident, Microsoft Word likes to alert me to miss spelled words using highly annoying red squigglies, but it doesn't tell me when things sound stupid because I accidentally wrote dream-polls instead of dreams-_pools_.

It also likes to tell me that my grammar is atrocious when in reality the program is confused by what the subject of the sentence is. It often likes to tell me to use him or her instead of himself or herself, but two years of Spanish actually _did_ help my grammar (surprisingly) so I know it's just good ol' MW skrewing with me…it likes to do that I've found…

Now everyone review please! Because it makes me happy? _AND PLEASE FORGIVE MY CRAPPY MIDDLE ENGLISH!_ It's not Old English; I found that out today, it's Middle English. And anyone who tells you otherwise, is a liar and you should show him your displeasure with him _violently_. Just kidding.   
Providence Smiles 

By LGR

**Part II: Fragility**

—Gainel shook himself from his own daydreams, hating his lack of self-control as he drifted off into his own fantasies when there was work to be done, and the bar that kept him from the thing he cared about the most; more than all the realms combined. How could he ever have thought she might care for him, how could he ever be anything she'd want?

_Equitus's_ trial had been surprisingly uneventful, as it turned out that he had been maintaining the seals, as he should have been; in fact _Gainel_ had been blamed for the incident. Apparently, the wards over his realm were so strong that they blocked the defensive and sensing capabilities of the current seals. _Equitus _should have reported this so that Gainel could fix them, but he hadn't. So in truth, it really _was Equitus's_ fault, but Mithros wouldn't hear of it and waved the punishment.

Gainel was furious at Mithros's playing favorites with his son. He was a supposed to be the very personification of justice, and yet he had always been terribly biased when it came to Gainel.

He supposed he couldn't blame his brother, Gainel's very essence incorporating chaos, that element that was the great enemy to the lawfulness and rigid structure that Mithros stood for, however, Gainel would never understand how he could still treat him this way.

Mithros was the very reason Gainel would _never_ be able to be with Lynn, even if by some miracle she cared for him as much as he had come to care for her. Not only was Mithros _extremely _adverse to god-mortal relationships, he had never done a thing for Gainel that hadn't been equally advantageous for him.

But Gainel didn't hate him. It was hard for him to think of other Gods as being capable of an emotion so powerful as hate, but he knew he himself was capable of it by the mere fact that he knew he was capable of such love, as he had found recently.

No, Gainel couldn't hate him, some things one just can't help, such as their nature, and Gainel knew that Mithros was only doing as his nature demanded. But often times it caused him such confusion and hurt that Gainel wondered if Mithros even knew how much his sharp words and gestures of distaste really hurt him?

Lately Gainel's emotions were so fragile and confused that he could hardly function. The littlest thing would set him on edge, etch at his heart or set him off into flights of fancy; it wasn't just natural and it wasn't healthy. Emotional exhaustion tired him out more than anything else and he needed more and more time to just sit and think of nothing, or else he would go insane.

It was so lucky for him that he was the very best maker of constructs in the Divine realms; he often had a lot of time to himself because they did their jobs so very well with very little interference by him. Gainel imagined, however, that this was what made him so very lonely in the first place; so much time to himself and nothing to fill it with.

Directly after the Trial, it had taken him some time to finagle his wards so that they remained as capable as ever, but allowed the seal access to his realm, however he had managed to do so, and he was left, once again, alone inside his domain.

It hadn't seemed odd to him, that he would choose to socialize (at least as much as one of the Great Gods _could_ socialize) with a child of only twelve, she was such a refreshing change from the narrow looks made by Mithros, the mute responses of the Black god, or the down right arrogance of everyone else.

And she listened to him, asked him questions that didn't contain hidden traps or barbed alternate-meanings, and always had something interesting to talk about. What seemed like an everyday occurrence for her was, for the most part, completely new to him, which is so very fulfilling when one had lived as long and seen as much as a being such as him had.

The academic or historical world was no mystery to him, but what Lynn's younger brother and her cousin were up to in the middle of the night steeling ingredients from her father's ingredients cupboard _was_. And he even got a few laughs when Lynn told him it had turned out they needed them because her cousin Thom had inadvertently told them how to create a mild explosive mixture, and that they had used it to utterly destroy a tree where the girls there age would sit and gossip about them.

He couldn't even remember the last time he'd laughed; it had been so long ago.

It had genuinely surprised him when she seemed to enjoy his company as well, though he couldn't imagine why, he thought of himself as extremely dull and probably very gloomy, but she had wished for him to come visit her dreams as much as he could, before she hastily apologized for being so selfish of his time.

He couldn't even describe how very good it felt to be wanted…or welcomed at least. He _wished_ that she might want him the way he often wanted her, but he could never be sure.

And this _wanting_. It hadn't appeared until three years after they'd met, when Lynn was fifteen and he'd decided he wanted to do something for her, and her birthday, which she'd just mentioned the week before without really paying attention, had been the perfect excuse.

That _wanting_ was something that seemed so primal that he was often frightened by it.

Gods didn't often _want_ things, not the way mortals did, with all of their being. But when they did, they simply couldn't live comfortably without the thing or action that inspired such a want, and this thing was most often spiritual domination of a country or people that they had taken as their own. Gods were _very_ protective of what was theirs.

Gainel had never really _wanted _anything in his life; and even now it wasn't so much of a _want_ as it was a _need_. It was such an alien sentiment that he often wondered if he wasn't a bit unbalanced.

And on that visit in which he'd wished her happy birthday and given her the choice of anything she wanted to become temporarily real, she'd asked him to sit next to her at her favorite place.

It was so what he would have wanted were it _his_ birthday (not that gods really had birthdays, or would celebrate them if they did), that he was happy to oblige her. But even as he did so, he couldn't help but feel sub-conscious about the situation.

He hadn't told her how he had begun to feel around her; and though he wanted to tell her, he was more afraid of how she might react. So he held his tongue and tried not to act too suspicious; however he wasn't sure how well he had managed.

And then she'd asked him for a hug and he hadn't felt happier to do anything since the beginning of his existence.

Uusoae hadn't tried anything knew, and though the bird immortal, whom Lynn had named Fancy, had contacted him twice about the presence of a chaos-construct, all they had been doing was watching, and though he was positive that they had been sent to spy upon Lynn, he wasn't able to prove such a claim, nor would it really matter if he could.

And in the meantime, Lynn's sixteenth birthday arrived and he once again asked her to name her gift, and she'd chosen the same thing and he couldn't help but have daring thoughts that she might eventually come to return the affection that she summoned from him with only the thought of her name.

He hadn't wanted to let her go; but he had. His place was in dream, we would never be able to leave it; and for the time being, hers was in the Living realms, despite his wish that it was with him.

When Lynn's seventeenth birthday came around, she had for the third time, asked for the same gifted, and though Gainel was glad, he couldn't help but wish that she would ask something more of him, because he often thought that he wanted to give her everything he had, but he didn't have anything to give her except his worthless person and his own realm.

But Gainel felt an unrelenting sadness coming from her, and that gave him fear. What thing would cause her distress? With everything he was he wanted to take it all away from her, but she hadn't told him anything, and Gainel felt that asking her was impinging on her privacy. What right did he have to meddle with her business? It wasn't his, and he hadn't been invited to share upon.

But oh how he wanted to, and he felt anger toward whomever or whatever would dampen her spirits.

And just now he had that reverie.

His breathing was frenzied and uneven and he could feel himself grow cold and his power was reacting strangely.

And he realized he was _panicking_.

Was it moral for him to think of someone in that way? Was it _normal_ for someone like him to be so obsessed with another being? And the more he thought of it the more he realized that it wasn't just a stray thought, he actually _wanted_ it, like he'd never wanted anything in his multiple-millennia of life.

Gainel needed answers and he certainly wouldn't find them where he was.

The Master of Dream ghosted from his domain, not bothering to inform his constructs of his departure, they would sense it themselves and automatically make the proper preparations.

Pushing past the infinite number of territories and dimensions he focused on leaving all of them behind. Where he was going was a place as old as time itself, before the creation of all things; when there had been but a single spark of fire in a sea of emptiness, and so the cosmos had been born

He suddenly stepped into an area of such vastness, that he was temporarily stunned.

The great sea of nothingness lay before him, peppered with small, twinkling stars, and in the center, a being of pure flaming energy and power.

**_"Thy Son," _**Mother Flame said, her voice so vibrant, and filled with calming warmth, **_"What brings thou to grace thy Mother with thy company?"_**

"Mother I…I haven't been feeling well lately…" he responded.

The presence of his divine mother calmed him. The other Gods might avoid the presence of the Ancient Goddess, but he couldn't help but seek her company in his most desperate of hours.

She has seen all of eternity; she must know what illness plagued him, if it was an illness at all, and in the meantime, he could bask in the tranquility of her warm glow as he tried to regain his own inner peace.

**_"Thou hast felt unwell, as of late? Prithee, in what manner?"_**

"Mother, I have felt things…that I have never felt before and I…"

He didn't know how to explain. He didn't even understand what he was feeling, that was why he had come to her. Gainel knew he could ask Mother Flame anything, that she wouldn't think him foolish for asking.

He ended up spouting out the whole miserable tale as she listened patiently; he recounted his fears and vain hopes, and his own emotional and physical torment.

"Mother, please tell me…give me something…will I always be this way?" he finished.

She smiled, **_"Dear Son, beleiveth thy Mother. Some such things pass in time as they may, but I asketh the, doth thou wisheth for such a thing to pass? All things art not meant to come to thine end. Thy instincts telleth the, but doth thou listen?"_**

"I…don't understand…"

She gave him a knowing smile **_"Not anything which existeth in all the Realms, existeth without purpose. Such iseth the promise of Providence. Go my Son, returneth to thy Realm."_**

And he left her.

The words of Mother Flame were often hard to interpret; her consciousness existed on a level that made it difficult for her to interact with her children. But he had been comforted.

_Not anything which existeth in all the Realms, existeth without purpose._

There was a reason theses things were happening, and she had also once again reminded him of that which was so very hard for mortals to see: that no feeling, object or action was in itself good, or evil: it was the intention that made it so. And all his intentions were most definitely not meant to harm.

_The promise of Providence._ That all things would have a purpose and all that was created would have a right to exist.

Somehow the ancient goddess had eased his pains, at least for a time, and he could finally gain some much-needed emotional solace.

But even as he began to relax again, thoughts of his heartbreak weren't far away; and though he managed to keep them at bay, the oppressive feeling that had plagued him in recent years returned and would not go away.

Would he ever find peace within himself again? What had happened to that time not so very long ago when he was, if not happy, at peace with his position and himself? Why could he never feel comfortable in his own skin anymore? Why did his insides fight to get out, and why was he so afraid to let them? And since when had his inside heart become different then the one he should to everyone else?

Gainel had never realized how truly fragile his own feelings were. And now that he had we wondered how he'd managed as long as he had without his self-esteem shattering under the pressure.

And he saw the truth, and the truth was that the things he'd felt then were nowhere near what he felt now. And once again, he asked himself how one could _want_ something or someone as much as he did at this very moment.

Did he wish these feelings to go away?

What he wanted to think was yes, I'm sick of it, and I don't want to care about things so much anymore. I just want to be able to be alone again.

What he actually thought was no, I knew what to do about them, so that they wont make me hurt anymore.

Everything seemed as hopeless as ever but, he would show Sarralyn a calm face; he couldn't bear to think he might distress her.

_And Providence was resigned, what would be, would be._


	11. Interlude 3

Yeah, insert random witty disclaimer here, since I know you're clever enough to think of some, because I'm fresh out of ideas.

**Review Responses! Woohoo!**

**Feifiefofum**, dude, your killing me man, I am perfectly aware the Realms has an 'L'; but since it bothers you so much (to tell you the truth I didn't even notice it was missing from about five places, I don't know _what_ I was thinking,) I'm fixing it. I might eventually get around to fixing all the other chapters to but when I say 'eventually' I mean an indeterminate place in time that could be anywhere from a week from now to never. I still don't knew what you're talking about with the 'knew' and 'new's, I actually looked at every single place where I used the word new or even used it in part of another word, and they were all correct.

You think Providence is _funny_? Do you mean funny as in he says amusing things, or funny as in he's just some random entity floating around and looking in on everything that people are thinking and doing, some of which is undoubtedly X-rated? If it's the first one I think you're weird. If it's the second one you probably have a run-away imagination like me and I can't say I blame you even if it sort of goes against the whole seriousness of the story.

I will tell you that Providence doesn't see things in that way. I won't tell you one way or the other as to if or what Providence's gender might be but I will say that Providence is an ether-being: take a guess, you're a smart fellow.

And I know it's likely annoying to keep hearing this from me, but we actually will get more information concerning Providence as the story goes on, last chapter you got something, whether you realized it or not.

**Total Fan of Yours!**, Yay, I have a fan! Other than the ceiling-fan in my room! Cool! You know what? I'm your biggest fan now, too. Keep reviewing, I love reviews, and I'm sorry this is later than usual; there were some more computer custody issues with my sister as well as an atrocious family camping trip. I really wanted to update for you I swear! And you really think this is the best? I know _I_ think pretty highly of myself, but it's always great to hear it from others, thank you! So you guys know, I've got some other Tortall series fan fictions in mind later, and I think you'll like them.

**Ace Ryn Knight** , I'm glad you thought Gainel's inner monologues were good, I was actually kind of scared he'd sound too Emo or something. He really is going through a tough time and he doesn't have anyone who can help him, not even Mother Flame as you saw. But he's doing his best, he's a good guy. Thanks for the review and review again! Also, I don't think you're strange; hell knows I'm the strangest one amongst us all, except for maybe fei, he's pretty weird, just kidding fei.

**Nativewildmage** , Gainel's gonna need a lot more advice by the time _this_ is over, but don't worry, I hate sad endings, so you can bet it'll turn out okay, but how you ask? I'm not teeling you'll have to find out! Review!

**Ivory Nightshade** yeah, this story is turning out to be the best I've written I think so I want to get it all out for you guys, so I'm doing my bets to update quickly. School starts next week so expect a slow down in updates, sorry! And so glad you like it too, keep reviewing!

Read and review people, sorry it's another short one…

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

_**Interlude 3The Threat of Chaos**_

_Uusoae had never felt guilt for anything she had ever done. Guilt was the voice of reason interfering with ones desires and Uusoae desired freedom. To spread her chaos to the Living word, to break the bonds and restraints made by the Greater Gods who called her sister. Order, reason, restraint and stability were her enemies and spared no expense to vanquish them._

_It might be hard for one to understand how a Queen of Chaos could plan her escape with such care to detail; to use the mental reasoning that was her nemesis. But the truth was that her very existence was a temporary fixated manifestation of Chaos, and she would once again dissipate into that substance of disarray once her desires had been met. _

_When the Mother Flame and Father Universe had created the realms and all that dwelt there, they had taken Chaos and shaped of it, the Humans. Mother Flame had shined and from her light had been created the Great Gods. But her light also shown on Chaos and, taking the light into itself, she had been created._

_Many times had she battled her Sisters and brothers, and always they had over powered her. But this time, she didn't plan on giving them a chance to fight back, she would free herself into the Living realms, where their powers were limited and hers were made stronger by the presence of the Mortals._

_This was a plan she'd had for quite sometime, but until recently, she'd never had the means to put it into action. What being could bring her from Chaos into the living realms? No god would do such a thing, no god could do such a thing, it was not only against their nature, but the laws that governed their kind._

_And those laws were all but unbreakable, even by her._

_No, it would have to be a mortal. But what mortal could do such a thing? None could, and so she'd forgotten her musings and continued to plot other schemes for release, only to fail, and fail._

_Uusoae had been quite surprised when her constructs had witnessed a mortal within the Nether plain; who had apparently come their under her own power._

_And she knew. This was the one in whom she had waited for._

_It had seemed the strangest coincidence that she should also choose to find herself in her Divine brother Gainel's Realm: the one most accessible to her._

_Gainel, the Dream King. When Mother Flame had created the Great Gods to govern the Realms of the Living after the creation of mortals, a place manifested within the Divine Realms and Chaos. A strange realm in and of itself, containing a substance as of yet foreseen by the Great Gods, or the Creator Gods: A mixture of Chaos and Order that did not fight or destroy itself, but existed in tranquility._

_When Mother Flame came to examine the substance, her light was taken in and a being manifested itself. Mother Flame gave it dominion over the small realm._

_The realm was Dream and the God was Gainel, and he had always existed in his own world, barely moving to help or hinder either Chaos or the Greater Gods and she had left him alone._

_To say that he had shocked her with his show of strength and possessiveness over the mortal would still have been a gross understatement. This unexpected behavior was bound to haven sometime, in Uusoae's opinion; he was of course created from both order _and_ Chaos, and she had still not expected, it none the less._

_She had grown complacent, expecting him to react the same as all her other Siblings, she had opened herself to the threat of stagnation; the threat of Order; her greatest enemy._

_But she would learn from this, she would not make such a mistake a second time. Or perhaps a third time; it seemed to her that the first stirrings of his unusual behavior had been when he'd thwarted her effort during what the mortals had begun to call, The Immortals War._

_He had indeed been furious with her when she'd used an immortal to set her free from her prison, and she was more than furious with him for unexpectedly disrupting her escape._

_It was clear to Uusoae that she must somehow incapacitate Gainel and the immortal that he had sent to protect the mortal, or else she would never be able to capture the girl._

_The law which prevented the gods from destroying her, also kept her from destroying them. But what could she do to one of the Great Gods? There was very little that one of that the Great Gods couldn't bounce back from. _

_What didn't kill them outright only slowed them down and she couldn't risk his interference. Though he couldn't enter the Living realms any more than she could, his construct had as easy a time as hers, and he could always intercept them while Uusoae's minions brought her into chaos._

_Oh, now _that_ was a good idea…_


	12. Part II: The Hopelessness of Failure

I don't own Tortal, just _try_ and sue me.

_The sad thing is…I actually use words like "abhorrent" in real life…_

**Colleen**, Hey, I told you guys I was cruel, it's not my fault if you believed me. And no I don't have sandwiches in front of children…I wave peanut-butter cookies. Just Kidding.

Anyways, Yes I was going to wait and post the interlude along with the next chapter but I wanted to give you guys something right away because this one is pretty long and took longer to type. I hope it's substantial enough for you all. Read and Review please, and thanks for reviewing!

**Feifiefofum**, you are exhausting nitpicky, but I still like you. Seriously, you move down to Southern-Cali and we'll go out. You still didn't say in what way Provy is funny. I like your nickname I'm going to use it, I'll make sure to give you credit; don't sue, besides I have no money. The reason Provy wasn't in interlude one or three, was because they didn't happen in real time, although from the text it's difficult to tell the time frame of interlude three. There is a method to my madness after all. Or maybe not, it's so hard to tell these days, I am fairly mad…in the crazy sense.

Yes, I need to check my spelling better; do you have to shove it in my face like that? It makes be feel bad, it's a good think I have an over inflated ego as it is, so there's no risk of low self-esteem. Ha.

And yes, you are weird, but it takes one to know one so you're not the only weird one here, (Cough!meCough!). That might be why you feel like you know me. I have no idea; if you find out, tell me. I'm pretty curious too.

Yeah, I see that now. I didn't notice that when I was searching for 'new' on the page using Ctr+f. Sigh, I miss everything; I really need a beta, like chronically. It took me awhile to figure out what you were talking about, they way you worded it confused me. I feel so stupid; I just want to thwack myself on the head with a Fish.

Thanks for the Review, review again, and please be kind…

**Numair's Lover**, yay! You reviewed again! Thanks! Review this chapter too please.

**Ivory Nightshade**, well I can say there is a lot more Gainel and Lynn-ness on the way, and though they are both in this chapter…well you'll see. Read on, Dear Reader.

And thanks for the luck with school. I'll need it. I'd actually like it if there weren't so much damn homework; it gets me every time.

**Read and Review Please!**

**Note**: I've got some ideas posted for new stories I'm thinking of starting soon. They are all Tamora Pierce Tortall series fan fictions. So take a look at the _Soon to Come_ section on my bio and tell me what you think. I'd be most obliged.

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part II: The Hopelessness of Failure**

"Three days ago my brother came back from his trip to visit our cousin Ally's family. It was nice to have him gone for a while but I kind of missed him I guess. I never really noticed how much time we actually spent together until he wasn't around." Lynn explained sounding slightly chagrinned.

The Landscape was the same whitish fog that was always the backdrop in one of Gainel's dream visits, and so were the chairs they both sat it. But Gainel couldn't help but feel slightly tense.

It was their first meeting since Gainel had had his unsettling episode, and he was determined to not let Lynn notice his unease around her. He did realize that he'd felt slightly uncomfortable talking with her for the last few months, if not longer, but this was something different. Then he hadn't understood the reality of the situation. He hadn't known the true extent of his emotions toward her.

It was such an unusual situation to be in. He did and yet he didn't want her to know how much he wanted to reach out and just touch her face. To just hold her hand…the fear of rejection was just too strong, and so he wasn't trying his best to act normal.

But even so, he had the feeling that she sensed his unease. Every moment he had the feeling that she was staring into him and rummaging through all his secrets, even though he knew for certain that she wasn't doing so by magical means.

He could have looked into her mind and seen himself…

But the idea abhorred him. It just didn't feel right; she trusted him and to Gainel it felt like the Ultimate betrayal. And he'd rather have never known what her true feelings were at all, than for him to look and see that she had never cared for him.

"—I'd watch him sometimes when he was tinkering in his tower room at home at Mage's Tower; we aren't home often, but he has a workroom and is always doing odd things in there. He makes things, sometimes with magic. But if he's doing magic I have to be in there with him. I don't know why, there isn't much _I_ could do about it if something went wrong, but that's my Father for you. He's into safety. I don't know."

Lynn sighed as her dialogue mentioned her parents, Gainel knew that she understood her that her parent's were just trying to protect her, but she still found their safeguards annoying to say the least.

"But anyways, I'd have to watch him so were together a lot then, and I'd tease him about things. Stupid things, I don't even remember now. But I'm glad he's back. And now," Lynn's face took on a truly mischievous smile, "I've got something new to tease him about."

Gainel smirked despite himself. He new she was waiting for him to ask her what it was, and he couldn't help but oblige her. He was curious himself, and it was bound to be something thrilling. For the last few years Lyn had told him of everything that went on in her life and he felt like he new her family personally.

"Oh really, what might that be?" he said with false innocence, giving her what she wanted.

Her face exploded into a grin and she was fidgeting; it must have been some news.

"Okay, okay! I'll tell you." she said loudly then jumped up from her chair, he ebony curls bouncing with her, and ran to his side to hold her hand to his ear to block sound from escaping, despite the fact that they were alone. Gainel tried to ignore the way he felt when she was so near to him

"Okay, Okay," she said again, as excited as ever.

"Can you stop saying 'okay' and get on with it!" he said slightly angrily.

"I can't help it!" she said, "Alright. This is it, are you ready?"

"Are you serious?" he asked dryly, looking at her through half-lidded eyes.

"Fine, be that way, then I _won't_ tell you." She said huffily, turning her head from him.

"Now that's just cruel." _It was._

"Fine, " she said. He knew she couldn't resist telling her news.

She looked around them for anyone who might over-hear despite the fact that they were in dream, and put her hand up to his ear again.

"Well, yesterday morning I was going to tell Eda Bell that I wasn't going to be able to make our practice that afternoon—"

"What practice?" Gainel interrupted.

"Oh nothing, she'd just been showing me a few fighting moves lately." Lynn said sounding slightly suspicious, but he didn't really want to ask her about what she might have been doing with this 'Eda Bell', so he let it go.

"But anyways, so I went to go talk to Eda Bell, she's the Shang Wildcat and she's been teaching pages and squires at the castle for ages—since before I was born—she's at least eighty I'd think; remarkable really. Well, I was walking to the pages and squires practice ground to talk to her, and I was within site of it when I noticed some one was sitting and watching the pages."

"Well, that isn't very unexpected. People are always doing that, though usually it's the Squires the people watch, they have more interesting fights, but sometimes Knights watch the older pages to see if they'd make good Squires, but that's besides the point—"

It truly was irritating how she went off topic; it was as if she were doing it on purpose to heighten the suspense, Gainel thought. Lynn thoroughly ignored his slightly annoyed look.

"—The point is there was some one there." She continued, " So who could this person be? I thought. I kept walking toward the fence and so that it was Rikash. He hadn't noticed me and so I ducked behind a rather conveniently places tree. He would have felt if I'd shifted. He can't shift himself, but He always knows when I am if he's around; horribly annoying really…"

"So, I was behind the tree, watching Rikash—"

"Spying you mean." Gainel interjected.

Lynn snuffed annoyed, but said, "Spying is such a _crude_ word, yet it isn't _entirely_ inaccurate…"

"Crude but true…"

"Do you want to hear this or not?" she snapped. Lynn hated to be teased, but he found it very amusing and he liked to see her reactions. And also, she looked so cute when she was pouting…

"Shutting up."

"Good, now where was I? Oh yes, I was _watching_ Rikash, from behind the tree, wondering why he of all people was watching the pages. Rikash, you must understand, is _highly_ averse to any sort of fighting. He really doesn't like it. That's why there's no chance of him ever being a page, even if he weren't five years over the regular age for entering page training."

"So I was watching him and guess who he was looking at? Or drooling over I should say…"

"Who?" he asked slightly more insistent than the manner of the question required; he really did want to know.

"Naori!" she exclaimed.

"Naori! Neal's Daughter!"

"Yes!"

"…wow." That was a mind blower, for mortal standards anyways.

"I know!" Lynn was the image of mischievous glee, "Just wait until I tell Neal or Lady Yukimi! Hell, It doesn't even have to be them, I could tell Dom as soon as he's back to the palace! It's been ages since Ma let me shift and fly with her to New Hope to see Auntie Kel. Really, I think her rules about shape shifting are just so _constricting_…"

"But isn't Alan at the palace? I mean, he _has _been the King's Champion since the end of that small war a couple years ago."

Lynn's face brightened even more, if that was possible, "You're right! He _is_ here! I suppose I could tell Thom too, he knows Neal, they were at the university together until Neal went to be a page himself, but being a Black robe in all has made him pretty busy. He doesn't know Naori _near_ as well as Alan."

During another small war with a Scanran tribe, (not the whole country, but still), that had taken place about a year before Lynn had met Gainel, Alan had been stationed with New Hope lending his insane sword skills to the refuge-camp-turned-fiefdom. While their he'd gained a reputation for being an even better swordsman than his mother, as well as becoming friends with the second female knight and her comrades at New Hope.

It had actually come to her attention that he and Kel had had some sort of argument over who would get Naori as a Squire when she became one in a year. Personally Lynn thought that it would end up being Alan, as Naori's weapon specialty was the sword and she only had a casual interest in the Glaive despite having used it since she was a small child.

Lynn knew Naomi and the others quite well. In fact Lynn had conspired along with about twenty others in the plot to get Neal to allow her to be a page. Her role as "big sister looking out of little sisters happiness" had been the key to their success. At least that was how she saw it.

"Alan is practically her older brother! Oh! He'll just _die_!" she proclaimed enthusiastically.

Gainel smirked again, "But I thought you _liked_ your brother!"

"Of course I like my brother! I'm doing this out of _love_ for him…" her sincere tone would make any player jealous. He also tried to hide how he went to mush when she'd mentioned love…

"Love? Maybe it's a mortal thing, but I just don't see the connection—" he said skeptically.

She snuffed yet again, "As if all you're teasing me isn't the same thing! You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about." She stated and they both flinched.

Gainel's heart skipped a beat as both of them sat unnaturally still; their eyes widened in astonishment, and in his case, terror.

She knew. And he knew she knew.

Gainel didn't wait for her to speak; he was so frightened by what she might say.

He fled the dreamscape as she called out for him. She snapped back into her ordinary dream-state and Gainel found himself in his Chateau sitting in the library breathing heavily in a state of sheer trepidation.

He'd seen it clear on her face, the surprising realization. In a way it was a relief, the truth was finally out and he could stop dreading it, but a whole new set of problems had now arisen.

What was he going to do now? He couldn't avoid her, not only did his heartache when she wasn't near, but it was just a cruel thing to do. And he couldn't just up and leave her now, not when he'd been her patron for the last five years, not when he'd decided those five years ago to come out of dormancy and act as shield between her and Uusoae.

And even if that weren't true, she truly did love her, even if she didn't do so in return, he had to tell her.

Checking the time difference between the Living realms and his corner of the Divine realm, he found that, though time moved more swiftly there, enough of the night was still left that he and Lynn might be able to come to some sort of closure to the situation.

Gainel decided quickly: He'd face her; it was the only reasonable thing to do.

And if it took longer to sort things out he'd come the next night as well. The different time flows between the realms were what kept him from meeting her only once or twice a week, as his duties, few as they were with so many constructs to handle the day-to-day work, took up time that sometimes became equivalent to multiple days, or were finished as the sun was rising, and new problems had to be tended too as the sun was going down.

He'd make time if he had to. There were some things that could be put off until later. This was important.

Sighing slightly to try and clear his nerves, he turned to enter her dream for the second time that night only to come face to face with an unexpected guest.

"How did come to be here without my knowledge." He asked _Discord_, although it wasn't a question so much as a demand, despite the mellowness of his voice.

The golden hair, Black clad woman smiled seductively, the gold apple in her hand glowing strangely as she held it in front of her.

"_I told you Gainel, I told you that you'd never find peace again. And I was right wasn't I?"_ she said. Something was going on, how had she found her way into his domain without him noticing? For that matter what _why_ was she there? Discord didn't do anything without a reason, though sometimes she wanted others to think so for her own purposes.

Gainel wasn't entirely sure what to do. Those other chaos gods who lived in the Chaos realm were allowed to move through the gate to the divine realm, albeit in an extremely limited fashion.

He was fairly certain she wasn't here by permission, but he could always be wrong, so he didn't dare attack her. But as they were standing there he felt the night slipping further and further away.

"Whatever you're about, _Discord_, it will have to wait; I have business to attend to elsewhere. We may speak once I return, I shan't be long." He said sternly.

"_Business? What business might that be I wonder?"_ she inquired stroking the golden apple; it was giving off unusually vibes and he was more suspicious than ever.

"_My_ business; of which is most undoubtedly _not _yours." She smirked.

"_Well said, but I'm afraid it'll have to wait. My news is much more pressing."_

_Doubtful,_ He frowned down at her. "What might this 'news' b—,"

The golden apple flashed and he dodged just in time to be missed by a hand of power. But discord was there to meet him, fighting as Gods would, using not only physical attacks and magical energy, but the strength of their will and mind, put against each other in a display of feints, pushes, blocks and strikes.

Her fingernails became golden energy knives and she slashed at him with great speed and dexterity, while simultaneously dodging a mental blow he'd thrown at her.

He barely missed becoming slashed by her nails but the, _Discord's_ mental dodge had taken enough of her attention that her next physical attack was awkward, allowing him to trip her and send a barrage of magic-blasts at her hastily eructed magical-shield. Her mental attacks faltered as well and she was trying to stay out of reach of his mind, which was threatening to tear hers to shreds.

She might be good in chaos, in her own realm, but even there she couldn't hope to match the power and complexity of a Great God in his own domain. Whatever cock-eyed notion she'd that made her think she could possibly had won a fight with him, was showing itself out to be a suicide attempt.

Their mental battle was coming to a halt as he caught up to her and forcefully stopped her consciousness from using magical energy. He stopped his energy attacks, the battle being most assuredly over.

_Discord_, was breathing heavily on the floor, looking as white as a sheet and scared half to death, knowing how close she'd come to it herself. Looking up at him with bloodshot eyes, she knew she'd been beaten.

She smirked slightly, _"So many surprises today, Gainel. First that startling episode with the girl and now this?"_

She words were enough to unbalance him. She ripped free of his mental constraints, and her physical body lunged and—

—phased him.

This power to forcibly bring others into other realms was a power that all gods shared, even those born of chaos, and she used it now, bringing him to—

Gainel was slammed violently and implanted into a little traveled area not quite in the divine realm, not quite in the mortal realm.

But it was close enough to the mortal realms, he was shocked to find, that he couldn't move one way or another. His powers were nullified in the mortal realm, which was one reason he couldn't go there. He would not have been able to come to this crossroad himself, but the goddess of discord had somehow managed to bring him there

And he was stuck.

_Discord_ chuckled from the divine realm border, her breath still heaving sharply from the effort of their battle. He stared at her with eyes widened frantically; his voice unable to be heard by some strange manifestation of the properties of the dimension and his own lack of power from being so close to the Living realm.

But he heard her well enough.

"_You know,"_ she said, _"I always did like you, Gainel. It's a shame that you had to mix yourself into my Mistress's games and ploys, truly it is. And you should have said you were lonely, I would have been happy to bring you company…But too late now I suppose, perhaps Violence and I will be able to have some fun with the mortal once my Mistress forces her to free her. Yes, I am greatly looking forward to it…"_

She threw her head back in a truly evil cackle and phased out of Gainel's vision.

Analyzing his situation quickly, his state of mind bordering on the crazed, he struggled to think of some way to amend the situation.

He tried everything but he could do nothing, he was as powerless as a mortal in this place. The utter hopelessness of the situation punctuated his mind and becoming an almost physical pain.

He might be here for ages before he was noticed missing. And all the while, that treacherous bitch Uusoae was going to have her way with Sarralyn and the rest of the mortal realm and then throw her to the non-existent mercy of _Discord_. Not only was the apple-carrying goddess outright cruel, she was devilishly imaginative.

He was powerless and alone but what was more was that now so was Lynn.

He had failed to protect the thing he loved the most.

And though his body was frozen into place, unable to make any physical movement, in his soul he retreated into himself and wished to die, knowing that his very essence kept him from being so.

_I'll never know…what she would have said…if I'd told her…how I much I cared._

And destiny, being the child of Providence, was upon the Realms, as the events of set in motion from the planning of millennia were culminating.

_And Providence could only watch…and hope. _


	13. Part II: Confessions

The plot is thickening, like gravy…but I still don't own the Tortallan world. Was that Random? Yes it was…   
Reviews! 

**Ace Ryn Knight**, yeah that school, it's tough I know. Hope oyu do well, and I'm glad my story can brighten your day. I sound like a hallmark greeting card, ha. Anyways thanks for the review and review again!

**Numair's Lover**, I like fast updates too, I know I love it to see all my favorites updated, I'm usually really bad about updating but this story is just screaming to get out! Thanks for the review and review me some more! I do so love reviews, I really do…

What happen's next you ask? Read and find out! I hope you guys like Rikash, I wish I had one for myself…a Rikash that is.

**Feifiefofum** Rather twisted. You said rather, ha. So do I. Anyways, I was feeling a little down, I kind of felt like you were just trying to give me a hard time, but I think you've cleared things up for me, and with all those heaps of praise my Self-esteem is bordering on arrogant. I always thought I was good, but I know that I have a pretty high opinion of myself and know that others wouldn't have the same bias as I do for myself, and probably didn't think the same way.

A Master of the English language? Can't possibly be a normal average fanfic autheress? Man, you make me sound so cool! Stop it! I'm _blushing!_ The praise is well received and I do indeed thank you for it. Anyone else who wants to tell me I'm cool is welcome to. Ha.

Those Damnable Knews! I hate them! I really am going to take a look-see at all my other chapters and fix them later. I do know how annoying it is to read something with spelling and grammar errors, it sometimes impedes the reading and destroys the moment.

And you wanted the truth? Here it is:

I'm a sixteen-year-old female, I'm about five feet, four and a half inches. I have olive colored skin and I'm fairly tan as it's the summer. I have glasses, (I can't stand anything near my eyeballs, that's why I flinch at any movement, no matter who or what makes it, and I started hyperventilating when my mom wanted me to try and put contacts in.) I have long brown hair it's naturally curly but it's a pain so I had it chemically straightened (I got lucky and got it for free, it's usually $$$ crazy), brown eyes and I drink on average five sodas a day and it doesn't put a dent on my boring-ness. I'm usually horribly mellow unless someone provokes me then I'm terribly sarcastic, but the rest of the time I'm a push over. When I'm around a bunch of my friends or my little sister I act insane. I'm also terribly lazy. And I have a very round shaped face which is supposedly says to peoples unconscious that they should be my friend or something; at least that's what scientists say. Whatever. It doesn't help me when I'm trying to read during lunch and everyone is bugging me to join in the conversation.

There is the truth. Pretty boring but I like to think my insides make up for it. My internal organs are probably awesome to look at. Ha. I don't know if anyone got the joke there…

Oh and I have sweet tooth that could make Godzilla nervous and Santa clause jealous. _Nobody_ eats ice cream and cookies like me.

**_AND EVERYONE BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY NEW FANFICTION!_** It's called ** Turn from Shadow **and it's a focus of Thom and Naranda as well as some original characters, you'll love it! I promise! Well, I guess I can't _promise_ but you know what I mean.

** Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part II: Confessions **

Gainel smirked again, "But I thought you _liked_ your brother!"

"Of course I like my brother!" she said, "I'm doing this out of _love_ for him…"

Gainel really was thick sometimes when it came to everyday things that she took for granted. Things like playful banter or teasing between relatives often escaped him, and she couldn't really blame him, not having had much of a family to do such things with, but Lynn thought she'd cured him of most of this a long time ago.

"Love? Maybe it's a mortal thing, but I just don't see the connection—" he said skeptically. Oh how her nerves just twitched when he said that word, but she hid it from him as best she could.

She snuffed yet again; he must be playing dumb, "As if all you're teasing me isn't the same thing! You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about."

And her heart stopped. Lynn's mind told her she must be wrong though her heart longed for it to be true! And she looked into his eyes, those color shifting pools, like a dream in themselves and she wondered if he could see what she was thinking.

She was in shock, she was so surprised, the disbelief kept running through her brain but she wanted it so badly, she always thought those sighs of quiet interest and kindness were just how he was, and that made her like him even more, but she'd always thought it could never be.

She wanted it to be true, and she couldn't help but gaze hopefully at him but he seemed ridden with fear.

_Does he care for me? Is it True? Is it TRUE?_

But swift as lightening he turned and fled, and her hope melted away and she couldn't help calling out to him as they dreamscape disappeared and she was suddenly awake in the morning, staring up at the ceiling like she'd had the week before, with the same feel of supreme grief.

She felt like someone had died, and maybe they had. Those dreams of being happy with him that she'd known could never come true but had cherished anyways until they'd grown to fill her through and through. That dream was gone and dead, never to become real.

When that dream died she felt like the Lynn everyone knew had went with it, and everyone else seemed to see it too, though they didn't know the reason behind her sudden forlorn expression and faraway look that morning at breakfast.

She ate in the Rider's mess like she always these days, and everyone asked her if she was feeling well. She didn't bother to say she was fine when she obviously wasn't, she said she wasn't feeling well. Many suggested she see a healer, but Lynn shook her head and said it wasn't anything like that.

Most shrugged but didn't pressure her. Lynn had never been the happiest person, even if she was particularly gloomy, though Lynn herself hadn't known that people had noticed how she didn't really seem _there_ most of the time.

That morning after breakfast she marched out to the pages training ground with a heavy-heart. The weather was clouded and misty to match her mood, and she came up and sat down on the fence next to Rikash.

He hadn't noticed until he saw her climb the fence right next to him and then his expression was panicked and looked around frantically.

"L-Lynn! What are you doing here?" he stuttered, but Lynn only shrugged and stared off into the distance.

Rikash was fifteen and still growing even though he was already taller than her nearly six feet, by a few inches. He had a slightly darker complexion than his sister, but the same gray eyes, even if his hair wasn't curly, but decidedly straight. It had enough body to it, though, that it stuck out all over. And luckily for him, his mother's willowy figure had won out against Numair's stork-ness, as he called it, and Rikash looked rather well made and not at all gawky.

He was a rather good looking-fellow, though Lynn would never say so to his face.

"Naori's pretty good, isn't she…" Lynn said, and Rikash flinched and the blood ran from his face. She smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry I won't tell."

"How'd you know…" he asked, not really convinced.

She shrugged, "Well, I know you're not into guys—" Rikash frowned, "—and hell knows you're not watching Eda Bell."

He sighed, "Is it that obvious?"

"You never used to watch to pages before, you should have been more discrete about it, but I don't know, I mean, I am your sister, it's hard to say, I guess, whether anyone else has noticed." She said.

She'd never really outright talked to her brother like this and Rikash knew something was up, but she almost wanted to tell him what it was. Though they were close siblings, they weren't the kind that was best friends. Part of that might have been the gender difference, but she guessed that some of it was that nothing really emotional had ever happened to her. She was pretty lucky, she realized.

"Lynn, are you okay?" Rikash asked worriedly.

"I…" She hesitated, but Rikash cursed and Lynn furled her brows.

"Shit, she's coming over!"

"Rikash! Watch your language!" She shouted at him.

"You're my _sister_ not my _mother_." He said scathingly, but his expression turned back to panic, "What to I do! What do I do!"

"Damnit, Ricky, just stay _cool_!"

"Don't _ever_, and I mean _EVER, _call me Ricky, **_EVER_**_again._" Rikash commanded most urgently, but then said mockingly, "And _now_ who needs to watch their language, eh _Lin-Lin_?"

Lynn grimaced at the use of a child-hood nickname. "Seriously, just kill me now and get it over with." She said but he wasn't paying attention, Rikash had gone stiff as a board because Naori was only a couple yards away and closing.

"Hi guys," she said when she came up, "What's going on?"

Rikash looked like he had gone into cardiac arrest, his muscles taut, and a nerve in his cheep was twitching. Naori was giving him a weird look but apparently decided to ignore him.

The girl in question was of small stature and looked deceivingly harmless, with her small bone structure. But Lynn knew that behind those almond shaped green eyes and straight black hair, was a sharp-witted girl who didn't take being ignored. And these days she had the sword skills to back up her scathing tongue, even if she was only a beginning fourth year page.

Her own problems temporarily forgotten, Lynn had a stroke of mischief.

"Oh nothing really," she told Naori, neither her voice nor her manner betraying what she was about to say next, "Rikash over here was just admiring you this fine morning,"

Rikash's eyes bulged at her words and he turned red as he growled, "_Lynn_!" through clenched teeth.

Naori's eyebrows went up in surprise; "He-he was?" and the half-Yamani was now as nervous as Rikash had been a moment ago; she'd never been good at that Yamani-calm.

"Oh, yes, haven't you noticed?—" Lynn smiled slightly at the two younger teens.

"_Lynn!"_

"—He always comes out here to watch you, he thinks you _hot!_ —" Lynn was now grinning like a fool and Naori's face had a blush to it and Rikash looked about to blow-up.

"**_Lynn, you are so dead!"_** Rikash lunged at her but she was faster and she set off at a full out sprint across the lawn as Rikash's shout got the attention of everyone in the training yard.

Rikash was right behind her down the grass, his longer leg advantage making up for his lack of physical conditioning. And besides, he was _pissed_.

"_When I catch you, you are going to be **DEAD**! You'll be **DEADER THAN DEAD!**"_ His shouts were slighted muddled by the effort of running, but the meaning was plain enough.

"Deader than dead? That's all you can come up with?" Lynn couldn't help but laugh, and she shape shifted into a cat and leapt up the side of a tree. Rikash made a mad-grab at her tail, but she managed to flick it out of the way before he could get a hold of it.

He let out a tormented growl and flopped down onto the grass to pout.

"Oh, how I just want to set that tree on fire…"

Climbing onto a strong branch, she shifted back into a human and said, "You even try it, and I'll tell Father." There was a chiming cheep as Fancy flew from the sky and sat on, not Lynn's shoulder, but her brother's. Apparently, she sensed his bad mood and wanted to cheer him up.

Lynn chuckled slightly at the bird's jesture.

"Ahhh, see? Fancy likes you."

He snuffed, "Yeah, and she's the only one. Now Naori thinks I'm an idiot."

"Naw." Lynn said, swinging her legs on the tree branch, "You'll see, she'll probably ask _you_ on a date, now." Rikash snorted.

"Why would she do that?" he asked unbelieving.

"Didn't you see her blush? She likes you, too."

"Or maybe she was just embarrassed." He said blandly from the ground.

"Well, she probably _was_ embarrassed," Lynn admitted, "but I think she liked you as well."

"And what would you know about it?" he asked skeptically, "You've never even _had_ a boyfriend."

"Well, I'm a girl, doesn't that count for something?"

"Not in my book." He said but she rolled her eyes at him.

"And the reason I haven't had a boyfriend is because I haven't wanted one, there's only one person I'd go out with," she said without thinking, and immediately regretted it as Rikash's face took on a mischievous grin.

"Oh, _really_, now who might _that_ be?" he asked tautingly.

"That's none of _your_ business," she said indignantly, "And besides, it would never work out..." She sighed, depressed, her misfortune now at the forefront of her thoughts again.

"Why not?" Rikash asked as he petted Fancy, catching on to Lynn's mood.

And once again she really wanted to tell him. She didn't know why but she did. Lynn had never been the one to pour out her heart and soul into other people with crying fits and long talks, but she really wanted _someone_ to know. Just _one_ _person_ to know how much she was really hurting right now.

"You know…when I disappeared for four days…a couple years ago?" she whispered.

Rikash hadn't expected this but he knew she was going to tell him something, something she'd never told any one else before. Something important.

"Yeah," he answered, " I was nine or ten. I almost thought I'd imagined it, we never talk about it," he said.

Lynn climbed down from the tree. Their race had taken them far from the pages training ground, into a little walked area of the palace gardens, because it wasn't particularly interesting, just lots of grass and a few old trees.

She sat next to her brother, against the tree, and looked at his face. She was nervous, but he was her brother, he'd understand. Lynn could tell he was taking her seriously.

"Do you remember what I told Ma? What I told Father?"

"Yeah, I believed you. Was it a lie? Did that not really happen?" he asked.

"No, it happened." She assured him, "but…that wasn't all that happened." She could see that he was waiting for her to continue, but she'd kept it secret for so long she could barely make herself say it out loud.

"I really did meet Gainel, and he wasn't what I would have expected. He was lonely you know? And we talked awhile. And not through his constructs, like Father had thought, I could hear what he said, we still don't know why."

Rikash noted the use of 'we' instead of 'I', but didn't want to interrupt, lest she stop. He could see that she'd wanted to tell someone for a long time, and Rikash was actually honored that she'd chosen him, her brother.

"I liked him sort of, in some childish way, even then. And when I had to go, I made him promise he'd visit me, in my dreams, that it wouldn't be the end. He's my patron, you know. He never had a human look to him before, you know? He can't talk to us, or meet us, the way the other gods can, but he wished he could. He really does care about us mortals, you know?"

She was babbling slightly, but Rikash made himself look calm; made himself look as if his sister always came up to him and to tell him the secrets of her life. That she had gods looking in on her through her dreams.

"And when some things from chaos attacked me, he saved me, it was an amazing sight, Rikash, you've have gone crazy to see it. And when _Discord_ and _Violence_ opened the Gates of Chaos to let the last of the creatures back in, he glared at _Discord_ when she looked at me funny. Uusoae wants me, and like the hearing Gainel, we still don't know why."

_Chaos _wanted _Lynn_? Rikash was beginning to see what it was that was so important about her story, why she'd kept things a secret, and he was afraid for her.

"You know Fancy?" she asked, and the immortal in question, still sitting on Rikash's broad shoulder, chimed in recognition of her name, "He made her from his favorite construct that was injured when a chaos construct attacked his Chateau; he said it was his favorite, he told me later, he could have just been pulling my leg, but I don't think so. She's meant to protect me, if anything were to happen."

"Fancy? Our little Fancy?" he was slightly awed.

"Yeah, she can phase shift, and all kinds of things."

"Wow…"

"Yeah. Gainel visits me almost twice a week," Lynn said, "We talk about things and…"

And Rikash could see that she was finally getting to the heart of the matter, that _this_ was the beginning to the explanation of why she had been acting so oddly lately. _This_ was what he had to pay attention too; what was even more important to her than the threat of chaos.

"It was about a year and a half later, I started to like him in…a different way. It might seem strange how someone can…can care for someone who is a God, I still don't know why I do, but Grandma did too, so I suppose it's…_I don't know what I suppose!_" Lynn cried out and she was on the brink of tears now, and shaking. Rikash put his arm around her shoulders and she seemed comforted, despite the fact that she had started crying.

"_In don't know what I was thinking!_" she yelled out through her tears, "_That's what probably got me into this mess! I was thinking 'Grandma could do it! Ma and Father worked things out! Why couldn't I!', When it was just stupid nonsense all along!_"

"_On my birthdays then he asked what I wanted! And I wanted him to love me but I asked for a hug instead by Shazdale meadow! How could I have let my silly hopes go that far! When I knew it was doomed from the start!"_

"_And to think, I half-convinced myself that he thought the same way!_" she was now out-right sobbing and almost hysterical, and Rikash had been started at his sisters confession, but he knew she wasn't finished yet.

After a moment for her to gather herself and calm down a moment, she said, "Last night we were talking again," she half chuckled through her tears, "About you and Naori actually, pretty ironic really. I was telling him how I was going to tell Neal and Kel and Dom and Alan; to embarrass you. And he said that he thought I _liked_ my brother."

"I told him I was doing it out of love, playful banter, that sort of thing. And he said he didn't see the connection. I said he was lying, because he teased me the same way all the time…and for a second he both stared at each other, he was shaking and nervous, and I thought that…that he might…"

Her voice fell to a whisper and she finished, "That he might feel the same way. But he…he ran away, so it seems I'm just some idiot after all…"

He ran away? Rikash almost laughed, he did laugh at how his sister didn't see what was _really_ going on. He supposed it was true that men and women thought differently after all.

Lynn 's face was pale; she'd mistook his laughing for contempt at her musings, even though it most definitely wasn't.

"Lynn, Lynn? Don't you see? You _scared_ the poor man! He doesn't know how you feel, he thought you were going to reject him!"

"W-what!" she said in utter disbelief, "No! It-it can't be!"

"It can be, and it is!" he insisted, "You said to trust you because you were a girl and you knew those sorts of things? Well, you trust _me,_ because I'm a guy, and I _know_."

"But…I…" she was just in shock; she didn't know what to think.

"Just give him a few days, we males always fess-up in the end if we like a girl, you'll see. He really cares about you, I can tell just from listening to you talk about him; it's dead obvious." he said.

"You…you really think so? If you're just messing with me I…I'll beat you up!"

The threat was a serious one; the redoubtable Shang Wildcat hadn't praised Lynn for her Hand-to-hand fighting skills for nothing.

Rikash shuddered, "I wouldn't _dare_. You know Lynn, you're pretty intimidating to a guy. You're as tall as most full-grown men, and you stare down your nose quite strikingly," Lynn glared at him but he ignored her, "And don't take this the wrong way or anything but, but your really good looking, It makes the sane ones of us nervous when a pretty girl is around," he confided.

Lynn smirked, "Thanks, Rikash, you know, and don't take this the wrong way or anything, but I always thought you were a pretty good looking guy too."

"Why, Thank you!" he said with a laugh, "And if all that's not enough, you've got those mad-Shang skills." He told her.

"Well, I haven't told him about that yet…" she confessed, "I didn't want him to know, because I mostly started it so I could help him if I ever got attacked agai—It's not funny Rikash!"

He was laughing at her again. "Yes, it is! But I suppose it's a good thing you didn't tell him. Gainel isn't really one of those Big-muscle fellows, is he?"

She shrugged, "He's no wimp I'll tell you that, even if he isn't some brute.

"As I expected; See, if he'd known you were practically a Shang, it would have taken him _ages _to talk to you again; he'd have been afraid you'd beat him up for sure." Rikash said seriously.

"What could _I_ do to a _God_?" she asked skeptically, "All he'd have to do is _think_ it, and I'd be nothing but dust, trust me, I know."

"You'd be surprised I think, girls can hurt a man bad, even without fists." He sighed, "Woman, you can't live with 'em, and there's no resale value." He joked.

"We could say the same thing about you guys, you know." She informed him.

"Well, than maybe we don't think so different after all." He shrugged and they sat in silence for a moment.

"Rikash? Thanks…" she said at last.

"No problem, what are brothers here for? I know I still haven't found out what _sisters_ are here for but…"

She gave him a small jab.

"Hey, that hurt!" he said and jabbed her back.

"Ouch! You can't hit me, I'm a _girl_!" she professed.

"You're not a girl, you're my sister, and besides you hit me first!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Well, you made fun of me, you deserved it!"

"I did not!"

"You did to!" They stopped fighting for a moment until Rikash said, "That has got to be the stupidest argument we've ever had."

"Well, we had to make up for that tender moment just a few minutes ago."

"I suppose." He said.

"Rikash, you won't tell anyone will you?" she didn't have to say what she was talking about.

"Naw," he said, "No body, not unless it was life or death; because you never know…" he said.

Lynn sighed in relief and looked at the sky, it was sunny now.

"When did the clouds go away?" she asked looking at the sky.

"I dunno." He said now looking up too.

Fancy, who until this point had been silent, suddenly started chiming extremely loudly, and Rikash pushed her off his shoulder and put his hands on his ears, as Lynn did like-wise.

"What has gotten into that bird? She's going insane!" Rikash called above the noise. Some people in the courtyard farther away, who hadn't noticed in the least Lynn's crying, were now looking over to see what the noise was.

"Stop it Fancy! You're making a scene!" Lynn demanded, but she didn't stop and she thought her ears were going to explode.

That was when Rikahs got a funny look, he did sometimes, he often knew when something odd was going to happen, and she knew that some thing was wrong.

"Rikash, wha—"

A hand smacked her from behind, and fancy turned into a lightening bolt and zapped a monster, as Rikash let out a startling sound, and it turned to stone, before her eyes.

But that wasn't all of them. Lynn scrambled to her feet and struck a fighting position, determined not to be caught of guard again.

One construct slithered like a snake and tried to grab her in it's mouth but she phased just enough that he couldn't catch her, then back flipped away to shape shift into an unnaturally large black jaguar, and slash and bite at the create with all her might.

Rikash was calling lightening, Flames, and Magic to their aid, and Lynn thought they might almost come out of this alive, when disaster struck.

The tail of one of the construct waked him in that back of the head and Rikash slammed into the ground in full-out unconsciousness.

She screamed her little brother's name, now in her human form again, and rushed toward him, not thinking of the consequences.

Fancy summoned a shield to block the first swipe of the construct, but it broke through her second, slamming the bird construct into a heap on the ground. Lynn could see some people running away, or maybe running to help her, she didn't know, but she was alone.

She phased through the lunge of one construct only to be taken out by a violent blow from behind.

She fell to the ground, breathless, and everything was black.

_And Providence could do naught, but let events take place as they might._


	14. Part II: Suffering

I own nothing…I think that covers everything. Review Responces! 

**KwiNimrod**…interesting choice of pen-name…makes me think 'Kiwi Bird'. Dunno why. Anyways, I know it's hard to wait so here you go! Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like my story, and keep reviewing! Please!

**Ace Ryn Knight**, Wow, really? I'm _so_ glad you liked it. How do you think I did Rikash? All kinds of odd things have been popping up in this story. For instance, two chapters ago? I hadn't planned for them to realize anything at all, their conversation just took a life of it's own and then suddenly Gainel was like, "Oh my god! She knows!" and Lynn was flipping out and so it just sort of happened.

And this last chapter, Lynn wasn't going to tell anyone anything but when she was walking around she just happened to go to the pages training ground and meet up with her brother. And _then_ she had to pull that stunt…and she just told her brother. Because Rikash ended up being a really cool guy; I really like him; he's a good brother.

And this chapter is just totally _not_ how I was going to have it, but it came out like this so…yeah. It's good though.

Tell me what your favorite part what, because I like to hear what you guys like, what about it left you speechless? Thanks for the review! And review again!

Colleen, Ehhh…I think I won't update, just to mess with you…oh wait you're reading this, I did update: I'm such a loser. Oh well, if you thought _that_ was a juicy plot twist; just wait till you read _this_. I didn't even realize last chapter _was_ a plot twist. This is though. At least I think it is… 

Anyways, Thanks for reviewing again Colleen, or should I say WalkInDreams? You really need to tack a story up; didn't you say you were going to write on Gainel? I'm impatient, girl. Read this; tell me what you think, and review!

**Feifiefofum**, dude, you are either my male incarnation, or my fuggin soul mate. That's all I have to say. We are like identical, except I'm not Asian, nothing wrong with that though. Dork? I'm more the 'nerd' kind of gal, but hey, they're practically the same thing.

My movie would take such many special effects it's not even funny. I don't know about one of those still-people. I'm going out on a limb here, telling you this, so don't hold _too_ much store by this but (looks around nervously, then whispers) I have it planned that we actually get a real-time description of Provy! But then again everything pretty crazy right now, with things popping up that I wasn't going to add and all—surprisingly the story is still going in the same direction it _was_, it's just better now, there's extra stuff happening. We're about 2/3 finished by my guess, but I can't say for sure.

And we get some more Provy-goodness in this chapter; you'll have laughed if nothing else, I can tell you. But if I've done my job right you'll also come out with an extreme hatred for a particular goddess with a gold apple and a headache from all the crypticity.

And crypticity is to a fuggin word! Damnable Microsoft red-squiggles

Okay, fine, it isn't a word! Crypticness! You happy! Huh! Okay, ignore that.

Well, thanks for reviewing Fei, and review again, please.

**And Holy-Hell, People!** With the installment of this very chapter, _**Providence Smiles**_ is hereby knocked up to the _+40,000 words_ category! _Oh My God, that's cool!_ This is also the last chapter of Part II, next will be Part III! 

**Okay, Read and Review, people, and enjoy!**

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part II: Suffering**

_I'll never know…what she would have said…if I'd told her…how I much I cared._

Was he meant to always be alone? Was he destined have but a glimpse of that happiness that he'd always longed for? To see that glimpse, small as it was, but holding such promise that his heart cried out for more, to be dashed before his very eyes?

He didn't know how long he had been there already, his perception of time was off due to his prison, lack of powers, and the fact that he had drifted off into the inner parts of his mind to just think of Her.

Because she was all he'd wanted to really think about for some time, but things were always in the way: his duties, the fact that he didn't know how she would react to his thinking of her, how he didn't even know what he _thought_ of her…But now those things didn't matter, they were all over. Everything was coming to an end and now that he hadn't anything else to do, Gainel finally allowed himself the time and the freedom to just…to just think of what might have been, despite what everyone else would think all the other things that would have gotten in the way.

What was it, this reckless feeling? He just didn't care any more what Mithros would say, how, if it was true and she loved him like he _definitely_ loved her, how they could be together when she was a mortal and he a God.

It had never really mattered how the rest of the Divine Community saw him before, why had it started to in the last few years? But he already had the answer, now that he was finally going to be honest with himself.

It all came down to Lynn.

How come no one else felt such torture? It didn't seem to Gainel that any of the other gods felt such love and desire to their consorts, or anyone or even anything.

Why? Why? Why?

He was one of the Great Gods, he was supposed to have all the answers and he was more clueless and any mortal left in the dark all his life ever was.

A shiver went up his spine and Gianel had the sudden reflex to snap and look behind him, but the barrier would not allow him to move. All his nerves were on edge and he was forced to just listen, both physically and magically, for what had caused him to stir.

It was Chaos, and…

And _Lynn!_

At first he was relieved that she was alive; he didn't know if he could live if she went to the Peaceful realms, where only the Black God might tread, but after a moment he started to breathe quickly, and panic once again. The only thing keeping him from hyperventilating was the constricting properties of his prison, which forced his breathing to slow even as his hands grew clammy and he was sweating in the effort he was making to break free.

He _felt_ her there. And his soul stretched out to meet hers as her unconscious mind began to stir and wake. With his senses her knew Lynn as well as he knew his own energy and redoubled his efforts when he could see that she was reaching out with her own power to try and pull him out of his trapped state.

She wouldn't be able to see him, but in some way she knew he was there!

And he felt himself _phasing_ slightly! Not enough to slip back into the divine realms, but he kept shifting, and soon he might be.

_This was why Uusoae wanted her!_ He finally realized _She could shift being other than herself, and the Laws of the Gods didn't hamper her from doing Chaos's bidding!_

But even this cosmic realization was nothing compared to finding that he might be able to help her after all! His consciousness was almost free enough to be able to touch hers directly, and all his senses had already been freed. Gainel could now see _exactly_ what was going on.

A terrible amount of Chaos constructs had Lynn captured.

Uusoae hadn't been taking any chances. There were enough to invade a large human city there, traveling through the space between the Living realm and the Divine realms. Fancy could never have hoped to stand up to them all.

Lynn, (oh how he cared for her _so_!) was pretending to be unconscious in the jaws of one of the constructs, even as she was reaching for him, trying to set him free. He couldn't help but think how remarkable she was, even hindered by her mortality. It was her determination in spite of all that was set against her that he truly admired about her.

To him, _she_ was the Goddess, not he.

He didn't bother to hesitate a moment, his earlier fear of her thoughts of him put aside; his mind was almost free, and then he would reach out of her.

_No!_ He thought-screamed.

One of the constructs realized she had become conscious and growled at her, aiming its large, blunt hand, for a blow at her unprotected head.

Lynn's eyes snapped open and she let out a cry, even as the construct that held her was hissing at the one who had a fist about to pound her skull. To Gainel's surprise and utter relief she phased through _both_ of the constructs and began running toward his direction with all her might.

"Gainel!" he heard her call his named.

_She was going to make!_ He thought excitedly, _She going to release me, then those constructs will **rue** the day they'd pointed their disgusting faces in her direction!_

She sidestepped the lunge of a speedy construct, then phased through the arm of another as she was but a yard from his position.

There was a deafening sound and everything stopped moving at once as a tremendous pressure asserted itself, and the colors of that between realm and everything contained in it, were inverted.

A rip opened up in the realm and the Gate of Chaos appeared, it's gleaming copper and raw-iron tendrils just as striking and shifting as ever.

The gates opened.

"_You see Gainel? My mistress has won."_ _Discord_ said his a smirk, stepping from the entrance of the gate and into the unmoving and utter silent between-realm. She took her time to walk over to Lynn who, though frozen in place mid-stride, was still quite aware of what was going on.

_Discord_ summoned her long Gold fingernails and Grabbed Lynn's cheek.

Ever nerve and bit of energy in Gainel's body was reeling to _destroy_ the chaos-goddess for laying her hands on Lynn. He could see that it was hurting Lynn, there was a sizzling sound as the nails touched her skin.

_Discord _grinned manically at his reaction, then she backhanded Lynn, and the girl's body moved accordingly as if having to struggle through molasses; Gainel could almost see the resistance the air was making to her movement. Lynn stayed in the position the blow had left her in, and her mind slipped back into unconsciousness.

The look on the Chaos-Goddess was absolutely _insane_. She held her teeth clenched together in a humungous grin, stretching clear across her face and distorting her features, while her chest moved vigorously because she was chortling through her teeth.

"_Such a strong reaction!"_ She said still smiling psychotically, her tone taking on the tone of a madwoman, _"You really do care for this pathetic girl don't you? You do! It's True! It's True! There is much Discord and Suffering to be had here, don't you think? It's True! Don't you see?"_

He stared at her raving face as she came closer to stare into his eyes and whisper in his ear, without him being able to do a thing.

"_Do you know what I'm going to do? You want to know, and I'll tell you. You see, she loves you in return! Think of the most absolute kind of devotion, the kind that rends the soul and you'll see what she feels. Did you know? You didn't know? You didn't know!"_ and she threw back her head in a full body cackle while Gainel's insides leap into his throat.

_L-Lynn loved him to?_

It was a dream, come true. He felt completed and he longed even more to reach out to her and tell her how much he loved her back, and yet his sudden ecstasy was dashed by what Discord said next.

"_Oh, but you think everything is fine now? That you can just be together! Off course not! I wouldn't be the Goddess of Discord if I didn't spread dissension among the masses, and this wonderful little relationship is all to agreeable to…"_

She leaned in to whisper in his ear, even as Lynn happily had not more than a few hours ago when they were in her dream and talking happily.

He didn't want to hear it, but he had no choice.

"_You see,"_ _Discord_ whispered, _"She, doesn't know for sure how you really feel!"_

No, she wouldn't…

"_Oh do she and I have things to discuss, now. You've already imagined how it would feel if she were to reject you, oh how it hurts doesn't it? Think of how she would feel, young as she is, without the millennia of stability to fall back on, as you have. It would **break **her!"_

"_To hear how much you **hate** her! How much you **despise** her very mortal **presence**!"_ Discord was spitting as she talking, and her gold eyes were blazing as she described the lies and atrocities she would tell Lynn.

Gainel listened to every single one, unable to do anything else. If he could have done anything, moved in the slightest, he would have cried. His soul ached for Lynn.

He'd failed her. He'd failed her. He'd _failed Lynn_, a _second time_.

"_Oh, when I'm through with her, she'll kill **herself!**"_

He couldn't stand it any more, his eyes were glazed over, he wasn't listening, only staring at Lynn's limp, unconscious form longingly.

"_Oh yes, such strife as hasn't been seen since the coming of Order, and you get to see it, touch it, experience it yourself." _She smirked, _"You truly are unlucky, Gainel. Not only did you have to **care**, unlike the rest of these freaks up here, you had to care for the one thing you could **never **have."_

"_I bet you wish you'd never met her, don't you? Don't you wish you'd never cared about her?"_ She asked him mockingly.

She smiled tauntingly, and held up her golden apple.

"_We all want freedom," _she said, _"But you never had it, and now, you never will. You'll be left with nothing."_ She left the apple suspended in mid air right at his eye level.

"_And the funny thing is, Gainel, you came so close to having it. And not the way that my Mistress will soon have it; yours would gave been legit, if you catch my meaning. No? You don't know?"_

She seemed oddly confused at his lack of understanding, anxious even. He couldn't for the life of him tell what she was talking about. All he kept thinking was, 'I don't regret it, I don't regret ever meeting her!'

"_You mean you really…?"_ she was just staring at him in something resembling shock.

_Discord _suddenly turned on her heel and marched toward the Chaos Gateway. The constructs and Lynn were suddenly pulled into it, as if by a hurricane wind. Just before walking through, she stopped on the threshold, and turned to speak.

"_She would have set you free, you know. Free forever."_ She told him, her face, for once, blank.

And _Discord _walked into the gates of entwined copper and raw iron. There was a screech as the gates swung on their hinges to slam closed, before disappearing altogether, leaving Gainel alone, the golden apple still hovering unmoving in the air.

_In the midst of such sorry and grief, all seemed lost and Providence's worst fears had come to pass, but there was still one card yet to play… _


	15. Interlude 4

Once again…do I really have to confess that I don't own the Tortallan series every chapter? It's so hard to think of witty things to stick here…

**_ONCE AGAIN I HAVE PROOF!_** **_I HAVE PROOF UPLOADING DOCUMENTS SOMETIMES MESSES THEM UP!_** I uploaded this and only half of it was in italics when on the origional it's all italicised! oh-ho! **  
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**Reviews!**

**Ace Ryn Knight**, I like Rikash, too (but you already knew that) and I haven't read many stories with him in it, but I can imagine. You know what, I like Rikash so much, that you know how I said this story is about 2/3 finished? I changed My Mind, it's only about 2/5 finished. And there's going to be a lot more Rikash from here on out. Still Mostly, Gainel and Lynn, but a lot of Rikash, too. I've got some funny ideas for him, haha.

Gainel is a pretty complex guy, and his main problem is over thinking a situation and making any sort emotion he's feeling ten times worse. So he's bound to be angst a lot, and I'm relieved you like him. I thought it might be a little much. Well, I thought it was perfect, but I thought you that you guys might think that it was a little much, if you get me.

But then I decided it's my story and I'll write whatever the hell I wanted to.

So…I did.

And don't thank me for getting thinks up quick; thank yourselves. It's because you and everyone else is reviewing me every day that I want to keep posting the next chapter, so keep it up, and give yourselves a cookie.

But you can thank me for writing great stuff, I'm good like that. Ha.

My heartfelt thanks for the review! And if you want the next chapter review again!

**Ivory Nightshade,** I so sorry I didn't have your response on the chapter before this one. Your review came just when I posted it at about midnight and then it wouldn't even show up on the review page until the day before; I hate that lag.

And are Rikash and Lynn alright? Well, that depends on your definition of all right…Lynn's situation was slightly explained in the chapter before this but Rikash is actually getting his own little interlude here. Rikash is such a great fellow; I'm really warming up to him. Thanks for the review, review this chapter! And the last if you get a chance…and don't mind…I'd love you eternally…in a friendly, non-sexual kind of way…too much information? All right.

Oh and yes, I have had a story that no one reviewed…It was sad…you just got to keep up the story and eventually you'll get reviews, but you know that probably, you're no amateur, so all I can say is keep trying, don't loose faith, and good luck, I was going to read and review it, but that fan fiction is on a book I've never read before, I looked, just for you, sorry…

**Crzybrunette26** update _woman!_ _You friggin' know what! I'm not going to update!_ Haha, just kidding, here it is; just for you…and everyone else…actually if I'm being honest I'm updating for myself because I want those reviews, ha, please give them to me? Review again?

**Kaito-Orenji**, yay! Thanks for the review, I'm really glad you like the story, I really am. I was kind of going to go against your request, hold-off posting this and this a double-post because it's an interlude, and I know how you love them, especially when they are very short and give little to no insight into what you _really_ want to know. But I didn't, so yeah, I don't know whether I'm being nice here or just a pain so tell me in a review or something. I like reviews, as you may have noticed.

**Numair's Lover** thanks for reviewing! Discord really is evil isn't she? I hadn't planned on her being like that from the beginning but it turned out she was a bad-apple after all (haha bad-apple…okay, yeah, I'm stupid) anyways…

You _forgot_ to _review_! Oh my god I hate you now! Actually no I don't, don't worry about it. The fact that you've reviewed me more than once, and that I'm in your favorites (that's a huge accomplishment for me) really warms my heart, so yeah, review but if you miss a chapter, whatever: we can't all be as perfect as me.

Yeah, right, _me perfect_! That's like, an Oxymoron, I swear.

**Feifiefofum**, I'm glad you liked my review for your fic. It was long enough to be a story in and of itself. I bet it's the longest review ever. I'm actually pretty proud of it; it made me sound professional. But anyways…

Sympathy? No, you'll see. Don't you just hate when I say that?

Pat-on-the-back! Woohoo! But in response to those mistakes I made I shall slap-myself-in-the-head. So it all evens out in the end. And yes, despite the devilish-crazy-psycho-factor, Discord's pretty cool. She's got all kinds of special powers you guys have only seen hinted at, and might not realize she has…or maybe you do, I don't know.

And I'm glad my fantasies of Kel&Kes with the Birds&Bees would come true! Tell me truly, was it my suggestive threat or had you planned it all along? (I'm looking forward to that, so don't disappoint me, Fei. You know you don't want to disappoint me...) all right I've disturbed you enough for now, on with the show.

Oh, and sometimes you really do have to trick people into doing things they wouldn't normally do, like reading crossovers for instance; (I'm referring to my review if you hadn't guessed). It gets them out of their comfort zone to explore new ideas/widen-horizons/promote open-mindedness, yadda-yadda…and this isn't anything dangerous so I don't need to go into a lecture on morals and responsibilities, so yeah.

Thanks for reviewing, read and review again! (You _know_ you don't want to disappoint me...) ha.

**R&R! (Translation: I desperately want reviews, they make me feel superior!)**

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

_**Interlude 4 Concussion **_

_Rikash snapped to attention; springing up from his place on the ground as fast as lightening, banging his head into the forehead's of multiple other people who had been checking him for injuries._

"_Shit! That hurt!" someone cursed, but Rikash's mind was elsewhere and he wasn't really paying attention to any of his surroundings. The events that had just taken place _

_LynnChaosLynnChaosLynnChaosLynnChaosLYNNCHAOSLYNNCHAOSLYNNCHAOS!_

"_Rikash! Are you all right? What happened?" asked a female voice from his side; he immediately recognized it as Naori's._

_At any other time he would have been blushing and stuttering, but he didn't have time to be love struck right now, not when the price to be paid was in lives._

"_I have to tell my Father!" he said and jumped up, to start running toward the palace, but he immediately regretted his hasty action as his head began to ache and his vision blurred, and he vaguely felt himself his the ground again._

"_Don't you even **think**, of getting up!" she ordered him._

"_You!", he heard Naori's voice snap at one of the other pages, "Go tell my Grandfather Rikash has a concussion! Someone probably told Master Numair already, but try to find him once that has been taken care off."_

"_What! Why do I—!" he began to whine but the half-Yamani interrupted him._

"_Just do it!" she growled at him, and the boy groaned before Rikash heard the sound of footsteps on the grass. "Don't dawdle, you idiot!" she called after him._

_Rikash laughed slightly at the girl's way of handling the situation, but it sent a rush of pain to his head and he grimaced. He put one hand over his eyes, trying to stay as still as possible, to ride out another onrush of queasiness. In the midst of this, he realized something._

"_Why are you all here?" he said, his voice horse. Rikash realized that he sounded like the invalid Naori was treating him as. "Why aren't you all at the training field? Won't you get in trouble?"_

"_We heard screaming and there were all these monsters, then Eda Bell went rushing over here, and yelling for HaMinch to come to. They both got hurt and we all get a free day." Someone said. Rikash had the distinct feeling that Naori was glaring at the boy._

_"My grandfather came running out too, and he's treating everyone. Some of the other healer's came as well. A lot of the palace folk had jumped in to help you and got smacked around." Naori said._

_Rikash risked opening an eye and was relieved when his head didn't automatically start swimming again. The back of his head still ached terribly but otherwise he felt mostly fine._

_The sky was mostly sunny, but there was a chill to the air as a very cold autumn breeze swept by and all the pages, about three boys and Naori, were rubbing their arms to keep warm._

_One of the boys was light brown haired and hazel-eyed, rather spindly and fairly tall, despite only looking about twelve or thirteen. That was Emmitt, the Lady Knight Keledry and Commander of the King's Own, Domitan's son. Rikash knew him fairly well._

_Another had red curly hair and blue eyes with lots of freckles, and was shorter than Emmit, but looked to be fourteen._

_The other was a very short blond-haired boy and looked like one of those people who were older than they appeared; he looked about eleven, but he was probably about thirteen or fourteen._

_Rikash recognized them, but he didn't know any of them personally._

_And then there were the ebony haired, almond-shaped green eyes of Naomi. He felt his cheek twitching and he hastily looked somewhere else._

_They were all four of them sitting on the ground next to him._

_"You know, I feel much better now, and I really need to talk to my Father so—" he began (tactlessly he realized a second later) then started to sit up when—_

_"Oh no you don't!" Naomi declared, "You aren't going anywhere! You've got a concussion. A CON-CUS-SION! That means you aren't going to be moving around until my grandfather takes a look at you! So get comfortable!" she told him fiercely._

_"Please?"_

_"NO!"_

_"I'm sorry mate, but I think you're going to have to do what she says. You don't have much of a choice really." Emmitt said apologetically, Naori shot him a glare but he didn't seem to notice._

_"But I don't have time to be laying around! This is Important!" he argued._

_"More important than you're health!" Naori shot back._

_"Yes! No! Maybe! I DON'T KNOW!" Rikash was going to go crazy just laying here, he had to tell someone what had happened to his sister. She was in trouble. He didn't know what they could do at this point but he had to do something!_

_"He's one confused chap isn't he?" The redhead wondered aloud, but we whimpered when Naori aimed him a glare that could kill._

_"You know what? Why am I even **listening** to any of you? I'm **older** than all of you. **And** I'm over a foot **taller** than any of you!" Rikash said as if coming to an epiphany._

_Naomi gave him one of her glowers and he blinked._

_"Oh, right." He said, "**That's** why I'm doing this. The threat of mutilation."_

_Naori's frown deepened as the redhead snickered, Emmitt rolled his eyes and the blond shook his head._

_"You know, it's really sad when you're sister and your crush can both kick you're ass." The redhead said casually and both Naori and Rikash bowed up and turned red._

_Naori let out a squeal with her hands on covering her face then the half-yamani punched him. Everyone winced as the redheaded boy exclaimed from the blow._

_"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!"_

_"**MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS CHARLIE!" **Naori screamed at him._

_"Well Sarralyn said it loud enough that everyone heard!"_

_"Oh yes, she will be the first to die…" Rikash joked before remembering that for all he knew she was dead already then we moaned and rubbed his face with his hands._

_Naori or the others didn't seem to notice, their shouting match continued._

_"**SHUT UP!"**_

_"**HELL NO! **What? The Ice-queen run out of insults? Does she resort to telling me to shut up?**"**_

_"Charlie…" the blond boy warned the redhead._

_"What's she going to do? Beat me up? Get her 'boyfriend' to turn me into a frog?" the boy asked sarcastically._

_"If you're referring to me, then yes, I really could turn you into a frog you know…" Rikash said; he almost wanted too, his headache was worse than ever and the kid was **really** annoying him._

_Charlie snorted derisively, "You could not!"_

_"Could too. Well, not a frog maybe, but a beetle or a flower…simpler organisms are easier, and I'm pretty tired right now." He said offhandedly, and Charlie started to look nervous._

_"You'd make such a lovely flower, Charlie, a daffodil I'd say." Naori smirked._

_"Oh yes, most definitely." Rikash agreed, and Charlie was looking a little green around the edges and was twitching slightly. He looked to the others for help but the blond wouldn't make eye contact and Emmitt was shaking his head with his eyebrows raised. No luck there, either._

_"**Damnit! Fine! You win this time!"** Charlie said throwing up his hands, with a slightly peeved look, "But you cheated! You brought your boyfriend into it!"_

_"Wait, you guys do this **all the time?** It's a **game!"** Rikash exclaimed, but no one was particularly listening to him. He'd even managed to sit up without Naori noticing to yelling at him; she was busy arguing with the red-haired boy._

_"HE'S NOT MY-I-HES-EH-GAAAAHHHH!" she yelled._

_"**Oh-ho!** And the **tables** have **turned!**"_

_"Will you kids quiet down!" someone yelled, and for the first time Rikash realized they weren't they only ones on the lawn. There were all sorts of people rushing about everywhere._

_And just then, Rikash saw his father sticking out of the crown looking around fervently._

_"Father!" he leapt to get up but suddenly eight hand pulled him at him so that he slammed back with a jerk onto the grass, and banging his throbbing head into the ground._

_"**ARE YOU PEOPLE TRYING TO FUCKING GIVE ME ANOTHER CONCUSSION!"** Rikash yelled at the top of his lungs._

_"**RIKASH**! Watch your language young man!" Numiar scolded as he came upon them with a healer in tow._

_Rikash felt like being pert, but decided against it as his father gave him a tight hug. The healer, who turned out to be Duke Baird, Naori's grandfather and Chief-Healer to the King, chuckled behind Numair._

_Charlie snickered at the reprimand Rikash had gotten but he stopped and turned green again when Naori made a quiet mention of how much she loved Daffodils._

_"Father! They took Lynn!" Rikash blurted._

_Numair's face, as well as everyone else's, turned white, as Rikash recounted all that had happened and what Lynn had told him, while the Duke looked him over._

_When the tale was finished, everyone was wide-eyed and blinking especially the pages, who looked as if they knew they'd heard something they probably shouldn't have._

_"Gods Help Her!" Numair gasped after slightly recovering form his shock._

_"So mote it be!" they all said._


	16. Part III: Beleif and Uncertainty

I'm not Tammy; I don't own the Tortallan series of books; what else is new? Oh right, this chapter! Read and Review! Please!   
Sorry people, if any of you were offended by my semi-random use of the f-word (as it were). I didn't even think to post a warning, I mean it is rated teen though, so I don't really see a problem. I don't know if this upset anyone, but I'll say this just in case: I'm sorry, but I'm not changing it. Rikash is a fifteen-year-old male in a state of stress; of course he's going to use the f-word (and yes, the word did exist back then. The word I kept having trouble with was 'hell' because hell doesn't exist in the Tortall world. I used it once by accident, however. If you can spot it I'll give you a cyber-cookie. Ha. I was actually surprised Fei didn't call me on it…) Reviews! Woohoo! 

**Ace Ryn Knight**, I don't have a little brother, but I do have a little sister (who is bratty but the few times when she's not being a snotty little brat make up for it I guess), and I'm glad I managed to make them realistic. I've had plenty of guys that were like my older brother though, so I also see how the younger-sibling feels, even though I'm a first-y. Ha. I like to think that I can relate to and see the points of views of almost any body, and that's what makes me a good (yes, I'm arrogant) fiction writer. It's lucky for me I know how to say "hell no!" or people would walk all over my sympathizing personality.

I also over-think situations, that's what makes me get really complicated things but I bomb when it comes to the simple stuff. It took me forever to figure out how to get our toaster over to work. That thing still burns my pop tarts every time, oh well.

You think Gainel is great? Thank you!

Kel and Dom? Yes, they're perfect for each other. The only thing I absolutely _hate_ about every fanfiction I've read about them getting together, (even though some of them are still very good works of fiction, despite this flaw,) is that _everyone_ overlooks the fact that if you're in the Kings Own, you can't get married. I made Dom a commander now (yeah, I retired Raoul, even though he's awesome, but Buri gave over the Rider's so it just makes sense that Raoul would give someone new a chance at commanding them,) so now him and Kel could get together! Gods I'm brilliant! Just kidding.

Yeah, I pretty much hate Mary Sue's. I mean sometimes they're a laugh just to see some of the stupid stuff people think is "good" writing, but after a moment I just want to rip the writer's head of and tell them they just suck…because they do. I also hate it when they have about two hundred reviews saying it's the best story ever. God I hate that. I want two hundred reviews saying _my _stuff is the best ever! It isn't fair! I just don't get it! I have yet to understand what makes them review in such numbers. So much for being able to see 'everyone's' point of view, I don't see those people. Okay, sorry for the rant, there. If you have a clue, tell me someone…I'm dying to know their secret.

Nativewildmage Yay! You reviewed for me! I thought you'd abandoned me! 

Some thing evil happens? Well…I'm not telling what'll happen. But once again I'll say that I absolutely hate sad endings; so you can bet everything will turn out okay in the end…maybe. If any one wants to guess what they think will happen at the end I'd like to hear it. I want to know what you guys are expecting, and see how it matches up with what will actually happen. If you don't mind that is.

**Feifiefofum**, no paragraph-long criticism of my typos? I'm touched. Or maybe it just got boring, whatever. More material? What kind of material? Read and review man, read and review.

**Numair's Lover** I find it unnerving that almost everyone mentioned my use of the word fuck in the last chapter. What does that mean? No they aren't gradually getting shorter. Chapter 9 is the longest with 4974 words, then it's chapter 13 with 4557, and third is Chapter 6 with 4346. Although, the last two were short, it's true. This one's slightly longer, I hope this makes up for it a little.

And I don't think you have to worry about you're mental stability, you seem well enough to me. If anyone needs to worry it'd probably be me, I'm pretty crazy. Have you read my fanfiction turn from shadow? I think nativewildmage asked if I was Bi-polar. Read and Review please!

**Kaito-Orenji **Thanks for another review! Yes, it is because they woke up at the end; Provy only makes appearances in real time situations. He's picky like that. I think Rikash is cool too! I'm so glad you agree. And you adore Gianel? Oh, so do I! I know it's pathetic for someone to fall in love with their own fiction character, but I really like him too. I'm a weirdo. Thanks for reviewing and read this and review again! Please!

** Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part III: Beleif and Uncertainty  
**

Lynn jerked awake.

And immediately started reeling.

She fell back to the ground with her head aching and vision swirling and shifting in and out of focus. Her ears were ringing and she kept hearing loud rumbling sounds from the distance. Upon hitting the ground, she immediately started coughing and hacking, causing her head to throb even more, from the giant dust cloud that had been flung into the air upon her collapse.

Lynn's mouth throat were coated in dust, making it hard to breathe as she used her shifting powers to heal the slight bruising at had been done to her brain. Her breathing hitched and set in a new wave of coughing as the pain increased from the use of her power while her brain was slightly injured, then lessened to nothing as it was healed.

Lynn also took the opportunity to remove the burn marks that _Discord_ had given her.

_Ooh, The next time I see that woman, I'm going to bitch-slap her ass half-way to the next CENTURY, _ Lynn thought hatefully, pouring emotion into every syllable, _if she laid but one FINGER on MY Gainel, that bitch will HANG!_

Lynn looked up from her position to examine her surroundings.

It wasn't pretty.

She was sitting on the top of a giant sand dune of mixed black and ruby granules. It appeared that her fall hadn't kicked up the dust; instead they had been flung into the air by the tumultuous wind that whipped at her hair, and nearly blinded her.

There was light, but it was a diffused sort of orange, and the sky was covered from horizon to horizon with black thunderheads that belched great forks of lighting to strike the ground or just ripple across the clouds' undersides.

The red and black sand was constantly changing, and her dune grew smaller, even as she sat on it, and another rose up to tower behind her. It was like a great shifting sea; the dunes great waves in a storm.

Suddenly she was dragged from her place on the dune by a hand that was clenched painfully around her right arm.

She fought and kicked and screamed her rage, as she was kept from shifting out of the hand's grip as pressure built in the air and a shaft of white fire erupted from the ground.

No, not from the ground: from the sky. Lightening had struck exactly where she'd been sitting on the dune. Lynn's ears were still ringing and a purple streak, an after image of the lightning's path, was obscuring her vision.

Blinking her sight clear, she saw that before her was a small crater of glass black glass and soot.

Breathing sharply, Lynn spun around to identify with her rescuer, only to come face to face with _Discord_. The Goddess's Gold eyes flashing in the dim light like a cat's.

And to think Lynn liked cats.

"You!" Lynn gasped in surprise and anger, "What did you do to him? If you hurt him I'll—!"

"_Do what?"_ _Discord_ asked amusedly, "_Silly mortal…don't you realize you are week compared to the powers the gods command? You couldn't—ahh!_"

_Discord_ hadn't expected the blow coming and Lynn landed a punch to the goddess's left eye, but the kick that followed it, was grabbed and Gold fire seared through her clothes into Lynn's flesh and her other leg gave way and she collapsed in a flurry of dust and sand particles screaming.

"_Now, don't try that again_," the goddess, said in a tone that could freeze the blood.

Lynn could barely hear through her own gasps and sobs at the pain, until she's used her shifting powers to repair herself, even as she felt the faint energy vibrations of the _Discord_ doing the same for her eye.

"_Hmm, so you've learned to use you're powers to heal yourself. I must say, I am slightly impressed—but only slightly. You're powers can't help you here, mortal._" Discord told her condescendingly.

_Discord's_ voice was arrogant and filled with scorn, but in truth the goddess was shocked, at such a display of power by a mere human. Shape-shifting, phasing…these were powers specific to the race of the Divine. She was dangerous to have around, and should be destroyed as soon as her Mistress had used her to get to the Living Realms.

And _Discord_ had been skeptical that the girl would be able to be of any use to her Mistress at all, despite the special significance that Uusoae had assured her the mortal had. Shifting ones self, and shifting others were not the same. The awareness that one had as to the condition of one's own body was not present when trying to shift or phase others. You needed a special ability to connect with other matter and organisms. This too, was an ability exclusive to gods.

The girl also didn't have any qualms with trying to hit a god. Gainel had babied this mortal: she thought she what I took to stand up to a deity.

Gainel. She still couldn't believe that he hadn't known.

That he hadn't understood the implications his union with the girl would have had. She'd assumed his affection was only face value; that he'd been using her to get his _own_ freedom to exist within the living realms. It still shocked her how deep his fondness for the girl lay; it was ingrained to the bone.

_Discord_ hadn't known until her Mistress had informed her, that the mortal Lynn was one of those few mortals born with an elemental affinity. It was very rare, but it cropped up every so often amongst the humans.

When a being had an elemental affinity, they gained certain faculties that could interact with the elements around them. Gods and Goddesses coveted such humans, to help enhance their own powers. For instance, a human with an affinity for water, could greatly enhance the powers of a deity that presided over water, and increase the success rate of everything the human did that was at the deity's bidding. However, if the deity was, say a deity that presided over _fire_ then most everything the deity wanted of mortal would likely go desperately wrong.

With Lynn at his side, he would no longer be constrained to his own realm; ever. The girl held the element of choice.

It was too bad; he and the rest of the Gods would be destroyed and taken into the mass that was _Chaos_. Order would cease to exist and her Mistress will have won. It was such a pain that the very essence that was chaos rejected the idea of choices; a choice required conscious effort at thought and deduction. Chaos was no thought; just instinct. Her Mistress would have to _take_ her freedom, for it would not be granted to her.

The goddess of Discord reflected on the irony. Gainel who had always wanted freedom but did nothing to make it his own had been handed the means to his release, but Uusoae who had done everything possible to break from her prison using every means at her disposal, and some that were not, had no such gift.

But that was The Balance for you, the scales of the cosmos, that took all debts and marked the ways in which the elements would react, and there was no changing it. Not even the Gods had that power.

_She was under his nose all along, and he hadn't even known_, she thought. _It was ridiculous really. _

"Hey! Yeah that's right, I'm talking to you!"

_Discord_ turned to see that Lynn was yelling at her, but didn't pay her ravings any mind; here, in Chaos, she was no threat, even with her powers.

Lynn, was scared, but she wasn't going to back down, not even from a Goddess. Gainel was _her_ patron. It was _her_ duty to uphold his honor and authority; that was what devotees _did_ for their gods. It also helped that she cared more for him than she ever had for herself.

"_ANSWER ME!_" Lynn shouted at the Goddess, who happened to be ignoring her in favor of the dark horizon. "_ANSWER ME OR I'LL--_I'll…_OR I'LL HIT YOU AGAIN!"_

The Goddess didn't so much as blink or shift an eyelash in Lynn's direction, making the shapeshifter's blood boil all the more hotly.

She wasn't going to take this abuse. If Uusoae wanted her, than _Discord_ wasn't likely to do anything to her that might leave lasting affects. Her guess was that it had something to do with he powers, so she'd have to be well enough mentally and physically to use them.

But…if Lynn was wrong…and _Discord_ _did_ hurt or, dare she say it, _kill_ her, at least Lynn's own powers would be out of Chaos's reach, hopefully.

_Come one Lynn, if there was ever a time to suddenly figure out how to phase without someone or something to guide you this would be it!_ She thought to herself, focusing all her energy and focus on this one task, but then sighed in dismay; she was sweating from the effort but nothing was happening.

If she could just leave this place, then she could go see Gainel, see if he was safe. Oh she hoped he was safe. She knew it was a ridiculous concept for a _mortal_ to be worried about a _Gods_ safety, but she couldn't help but feel that way at his moment. Despite her own position, it seemed to her that _he_ had been the one in real danger all along.

He'd wanted to keep her safe, and what had happened to him? She'd seen him trapped in that between-place, unable to leave to save her _or_ himself!

She'd sensed him near and opened her eyes from the darkness to find that he was there. For a moment she'd thought t might be a dream, but reality had come crashing down as soon as she'd realized she was being carried by a chaos-construct. She recognized their 'feel' from five years ago.

But that sort of situation was exactly the kind she'd been training and preparing herself for; but even with her sudden ability to shift him _herself, _it hadn't been enough.

She hadn't known she could do that; it surprised her how many uses her power really had. But they still weren't enough. They still weren't enough to stand up to the power of a God.

_Even if it is true_, she thought, _I'll never be able to be with him. He's a god, and I'm nothing. Humans don't live for more than a century at best, and I could never stand at his side to help, how had I ever thought it could work out!_

"_How indeed? How could you ever have thought so? Stupid, useless human."_ Lynn jumped at the sound of _Discord's_ voice.

Slamming her hands to her ears she cried, "Get out of my head, you witch! Stop listening to my thoughts! I won't fall for your lies!"

"_They aren't lies, you thought them yourself, and you know they're true."_ The goddess laughed unsympathetically and wearing a smirk. "_How could you have ever hoped to equal him? When the truth was it was impossible?"_

Lynn tried to ignore the Goddess's voice, praying to anyone or anything that could hear her from the cesspool that was the Chaos-realm, that her utterances were untrue.

_Discord,_ had yet some time to wait before everything would be ready for their departure into the Living realms when she would present to her Mistress the shape-shifter, and Uusoae would take over the girls mind, and force her to take the Chaos Queen to the Living realms, but she thought she could get away with spreading a little discord now. Not enough to make her kill herself, as she'd promised Gainel she would; but enough to set that doubt, that sadness and sense of uncertainty that she lived for, that was her essence.

She smirked, _"Yes, it's true, you're unfit to be his partner. You can't even control your own powers. You can't even leave her yourself! You're worthless to him! Why do you think he wanted you under his wing? Had you ever thought? Did you think he had cared for you? Liked your company? Or was it something else? Perhaps he saw potential in your powers?"_

Lynn's lost her inner battle for peace and shot _Discord _the most vehement look she could manage, "Don't you DARE compare him to you! He isn't like that! He wouldn't take advantage of me like that! I know!"

_Discord _was slightly surprised at the extreme amount of belief held in that statement, but she supposed it was only natural, with the deep amount of devotion she had toward him.

"_Wouldn't he? You've already admitted that you are no match for the complexity of a god. Don't you believe he could trick you? It would be easy he'd known you since you were a little girl; it would have been easy."_

"No!"

"_Have you ever wondered why you like him so much? How someone can feel such attachment to any one thing, especially a god? How unnatural it was!"_

It had seemed unnatural. She had wondered…

"_Haven't you ever thought that maybe he'd bewitched you? Made it so you felt this way! That your affection is an artificial illusion created specifically to make you his loyal dog?"_

Lynn started laughing hysterically, and_ Discord's_ brows furrowed in confusion and annoyance, but Lynn didn't stop.

"Have you listened to yourself? You're pathetic." The mortal said condemningly, and before the goddess could stop herself, she'd crossed the span between her and the girl, to release the wards on her power and grab the girl with shining gold and black hands.

"_YOU THINK I'M PATHETIC **HUMAN**!"_

Power blazed off her in great swathes and ripples, as the girl screamed from the burning might of her glory.

Oh, she'd teach this mortal a lesson she wouldn't soon forget—

She choked as a greater power than hers constricted her mind and her body, crushing her. _Discord_ dropped the girl with shaking, now lightless hands, and writhed on the ground gasping for breath, gold and black blood pouring from her eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

"**YOU WILL NOT THREATEN MY PLANS, DISCORD."** Came the great voice of her Mistress Uusoae.

Lynn was recovering from the torrential energy that had threatened to rip her to shreds with it's very being, but no sooner had she repaired the damage done by the Goddess of Discord, was she clamping her hands to her ears and shrieking again

A massive 'thing', an ever shifting and changing shape, had manifested itself before her. Interchangeable squid eyes and frog noses and lions manes and humans mouths shifted out over the goddess's body; sometimes where they were supposed to be, some times not. The sight of an endless amount of different body parts displayed then banished from the Goddess's surface within the blink of an eye was enough to make Lynn wretch.

With _Discord_ still thrashing in the sand, her blood mixing with the granules of dust and soot and sand, Lynn was free to move but she found she couldn't. The Goddess of Chaos turned what looked to be her head, a wiggling mass of five giant, saucer-sized silvery blue eyes, at the moment, to look at Lynn, and said:

"**COME TO ME."**

_Had the careful planning all been for naught? But Providence could no longer help the girl, he turned his attention to other matters, wishing that his endeavors would be successful, for it was her only hope… _


	17. Part III: Love and Freedom

Is this disclaimer absolutely necessary? I disclaim the Tortall series of books. Happy? No? Me neither

_**  
ANNOUNCEMENT!** _ Today/Tomarrow I start school so that might mean a slow down in the posting, expect things to take twice as long to be updated: I will have to start doing home work and I also won't be able to stay up till two am finishing chapters any more. I'm going to try and still be quick about it but I can't make any promises. If you people review a lot (hint to non-reviewing readers! I LOVE reviews, sighed AND anonymous, so don't be shy,) it might give me motivation to try and stay quick about it. Yes, I'm pathetic.

** Reviews! Heck Yes!**

**Daine's Twin** the somewhat sad and pathetic but funny thing is, so was I when I was typing it. I mean it's one thing when you're reading it, but typing?

**Ace Ryn Knight** Tamsion, yay! Is that kind of like tension? Just kidding, I know what you meant. Yes, Lynn is pretty tough, but then again, her parents were too, so it runs in the family, as it were, and also she was fairly pissed off. It turned out to be a pretty suicidal effort but hey, you got to stick it to the man…or woman…or goddess. She's pretty lucky (or unlucky as the case may be,) that Uusoae _really _wants her, or else she'd probably be dusted.

Chaos won't have an easy time? Oh, you'll see—But not this chapter, Mwahaha! I'm so devilishly evil. Now that you so desperately want to know what happens to Lynn, I'm throwing you back to Gainel, ha. You got to wait! I hope you don't hate me too much. And remember to read and review. I LOVE reviews.

**Nativewildmage** here yah go! Update! But watch out, there might be a delay in chapters from now on. Because of school. And I won't give the ending away, so…R&R! Please!

**Numair's Lover** yeah, I hate her too. Kick ass bitch? Actually now that you mention it, she is a kick ass bitch! Cool, I hadn't realized it. And she can _literally_ kick asses. She's got Shang training.

And thanks for saying I'm sane. I'll take you're word for it, but It doesn't change the fact that I have a run-away imagination. Actually it surprised me to about everyone and the word fuck, it was kind of amusing really, that everyone noticed it.

This one won't beat the chapter word record but the next probably will, it's going to be pretty long.

Thanks for reviewing! Please review again!

**Feifiefofum,** wow, yeah. I find it odd no one pointed out where I used hell. I realized I used it twice actually. I'm going to absolutely scour these chapters one day when I'm very bored, fix them and repost them nice and clean, and sparkly. At least I've got a nice checklist in your reviews for when I do.

It really is true about the typing to fast I skip letters, or type a similar word. And sometimes auto correct on Microsoft word corrects things into the wrong word, but It's mostly me. If only computers could _think_…

And it doesn't offend me that you like Provy the best, hell the whole story's named after him; just as long as you like the other characters, too; because I worked so hard on them. Read and review man. Please, that is. Almost forgot that…

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part III: Love and Freedom**

That apple…Gainel could do nothing but stare at its shining, gold surface. She'd left it there to taunt him; to make sure he wouldn't, couldn't forget.

Not that _that_ was remotely likely, given the circumstances. He couldn't stop the onrushing memory of when _Discord_ had had her nails at Lynn's throat. If he _ever_ got out of here, rules or no rules, he'd do everything in his power to kill that goddess; consequences be damned. She wasn't going to come out of this unscathed. He'd make sure of that.

And The Balance forbid he find Lynn harmed, Mithros would have to pry him from _Discord's_ mangled body and risk a few broken-bones, himself.

But there he went again. Acting as if he might be freed before the whole fiasco was over. Like somehow, everything might still turn out okay, despite the forces arrayed against him. He was only setting himself up for a bigger fall when the time would finally come, that his naivety was revealed to be exactly that, and the crushing reality set in.

Needless to say, he didn't want to think about it. He had never been the most stable minded God, even for a Great God, whose complex minds and powers often made then inherently eccentric, and he had the ominous feeling that he would finally crack if something were to…he didn't even want to think about, he felt his rationality slipping at the very _thought_.

But there was something else that was bothering him, and though it was along similar lines as the other, he forced himself to ignore the thought of losing Lynn, for a time.

_Free? Free forever? What was she talking about? _

He had the impression that she meant 'free' as in free from the constraints set upon Gainel that kept him from the living realms. But his being able to move freely was a physical impossibility; _nothing_ had the ability to bypass the Laws of The Balance.

And the funny thing is, Gainel, you came so close to having it. And not the way that my Mistress will soon have it; yours would gave been legit, she'd said.

If his own depression didn't kill him, he'd die from sheer frustration. What could he have missed? Everything had to obey the edict set by The Balance without exception; and as rules, deals, and promises given by Gods were binding and unable to be broken, even if the God had wanted to, the Laws of the Balance were equally as potent, more so if that were possible.

She couldn't break the laws to do so…so that must mean she is somehow working within the laws of The Balance… But even as he thought this, he realized, that there was a lot of things that Lynn could do that he knew were forbidden.

She could hear Gainel when he spoke, for one thing, though they hadn't spoken to each other outside of a dream since five years ago, when she'd fell into his garden, and he'd first met her.

He remembered how surprised he'd been. She always held surprises for him, even now.

Don't think about it! And you can forget ever being free, it's impossible, He told himself, even as he did so, his glaze-over vision, came into focus and he spied the Golden apple.

DAMN Discord! Damn her, DAMN HER! For a moment he wrestled to get his feelings and brain back under his conscious control, then he mentally sighed, his own body being unable to perform the action due to its frozen state.

He knew it was only Discord's nature to behave in such a way, but he still couldn't help hating her for it. Gods were possessive by their natures, and Gainel was no exception. Any insult or harm, or hurt done to HIS Lynn, was done to him.

Discord would get hers, and if The Balance cared a wit for him, The Dream King would be the one to dole out the punishment.

Oh, Lynn… he thought.

If only he could get out of here, he'd…another wave of depression hit; he'd already told himself it was impossible, there was nothing he could do to save himself…

** Impossible? You of all people should know that there is very little in this universe that is Impossible. **

What? Voices? He hadn't been joking when he'd thought he was more than half-crazy, but he really didn't think he was that far along. Was it true? Had his mind finally corroded to the point that he was hearing Voices?

** You're mind doesn't look like it's corroded…much. **

Gainel wanted to smack himself; how could he be so stupid, he was obviously being spoken to mind-to-mind. He wasn't a schizophrenic.

Besides, I think if my mind were to conjure a voice in my head, it'd probably be Lynn's. he thought.

The only excuse he could make for himself was that all of his senses were skewed and barely operable in this state; not to mention he wasn't thinking very optimistically after what had just happened, seeing his only love snatched before his eyes and then told of how Discord would rend her soul to the point where she would commit suicide; and using his name to do it.

Actually, considering all of that, he didn't see how he wouldn't be slightly deficient in deductive reasoning right now. And who could blame him. A moment ago he'd been all alone, with only a gold apple in his sight (it was still the only thing in his sight, by the way) and mentally commentating on how he was more than slightly insane; naturally he would leap to the conclusion he was not all-well, as it were.

**To whom might I speaking to? ** He asked politely, hoping beyond hope it was someone who could release him. He was barely receiving the thoughts as if was, much less able to distinguish with any certainty the vibrations and essences of the person's powers to clue him in on the unseen conversationalist.

It was lucky for him that the person was speaking with him Mind-to-mind, other wise he wouldn't have been able to answer them. And even now, he couldn't so much answer as he just thought something to the forefront of his mind and hoped they picked it up.

** Apfel, who else would come upon you but the lovable Goddess of True Love herself? I don't usually pay house calls, but you're a brother so I'm making an exception! **Came the reply with a tone of playful amusement, especially when his only reply was a mental blink of dumbfounded-ness.

** I-she-then—! ** his mind voice stuttered in shock at the revelation that the Goddess's presence revealed.

Despite Discord's assurances (hateful and misguided as they were) that Lynn was just as mad for him as he was for her, he hadn't really believed her. The whole idea just seemed foreign to him that anyone, especially someone as determined and full of life as Lynn, could see him as attractive in the least. Perhaps it was because Gainel was so used to being ignored or looked down upon, that he could no longer fathom how anyone might see him differently.

** Yes! It's true! I think you're just stupid to think no one could care for you, ** She proclaimed, ** But either way, ****she cares for you, and what's more: this is a soul bonding, truelove, destiny-bond sort of deal; this is the real thing. **

** I resent being called stupid, and take it as a personal insult. **Gainel told her.

Suddenly a hand swiped the golden apple from his view and stepped into his range.

It was indeed his sibling, the Great Goddess Apfel, Goddess of Karma, and Lucky Coincidences, as well as Destiny and True Love.

With long, wet-looking red-gold curls, alabaster skin and shining Turquoise-eyes, wearing a floor-length gown covered in vermilion crushed-velvet Roses and a trimmed in white lace and pearls, she was very beautiful, even by Godly standards, but Gainel, didn't feel a thing for her, despite the absolutely dazzlingly-warm smile she was giving him.

He much rather see Lynn's soft smile any day.

She was turning the gold apple around in her hands, not seemingly in a rush.

** I can't believe neither of you had realized it earlier, it would actually have saved a lot of trouble; for one thing you wouldn't be here right now, I can tell you that! **

** And why is that? ** He asked curiously, but she ignored him.

** I Must say, ** she said, ** You are probably the ****last person I'd expect to be involved in a Truelove-Bond, did you know? Though, now that I think about it, it's about time; most all of us other gods have been hooked up for ages, you old bachelor! **

Gainel mentally snuffed at being called an old bachelor, although he couldn't deny it; he was the third oldest of the Great Gods (Mithros and The Great Mother Goddess had been born just before him,) and the only one without a consort. Apfel was, in fact, the consort of The Black God himself.

** Just so you know, I also resent being called old. **Once again she ignored him.

** Unusual that it turned out to be a human…but hey, love is blind, as they say; and you two really are perfect for each other; you really are way more interesting to talk to since she's civilized you. **

If Gainel could, he would have slitted his eyes and given her an indignant look, but he had to settle for saying ** And just what is ****that supposed to mean… **

** Exactly what you think it means, I'm sure. ** She stated primly.

** Quite obviously, it was a redundant question, as you well knew. ** He said blandly. Now he knew why he never particularly liked Apfel; she was blunt, obnoxious and infuriating to try and talk too.

Her face took on a pouting expression. ** You'd think the God of Dream wouldn't be such a stiff…Haha! '****Stiff'! You can't move! Haha! Oh, I'm hilarious… **

Gainel, was not only extremely annoyed, but he was also slightly disturbed at the way Apfel was reacting to the situation, which was to say, as if everything were completely normal. He had half a mind to dress her down, (because theoretically he had more power and authority than the Love Goddess, although those sorts of things don't really have much of an affect on someone like Apfel), but decided against it; he needed to stay on her good side if he wanted her to help him get out of this mess.

Choosing to ignore the Goddess's sad excuse for a joke, he went straight to business, ** You need to get me out. **

** Yes, I know the whole sad story, but unfortunately I can't do that right now. I can only interfere when the situation has something to do with a True-Love/Destiny-Bond. You know that. ** She said tauntingly, and Gainel snapped, he was already stressed beyond belief and she was just playing with him when his bonded (the Apfel had called her such herself, despite what she was saying now, and when one of a Bonded pair was killed, the other often was as well, it was an extremely deep love that went beyond mere feelings; it became etched into ones very essence. He could still hardly believe that he supposedly had some who was devoted to him that way,) was trapped in Chaos, and under the mercy of Uusoae and Discord!

** YOU JUST SAID IT DID! **He mind-screamed harshly.

His outburst took back the Goddess, but only slightly, ** Calm down, **she told him, with one eye brow raised **Yes I did say it was, but you see, there's just ****one technicality… **

Oh, how he hated playing such games. Time was running out, not just for Lynn (who seemed the most important thing to his mind at the moment though he knew in the grand scheme of things she most likely wasn't,) but all the realms as they knew it, and Apfel was just standing there, like they had all the time in the world!

** And what, pray tell, might that be? ** Gainel asked scornfully, trying to keep his temper under control. He found its existence odd, as he had never had much of a temper before.

**You see, ****technically, the bond doesn't 'kick-in' as it were, the effects on those involved are definitely present, it's just that I can't do anything about it until****both** **parties have admitted their feelings to a third party. **

** That's…stupid. **

** Yes, it is but it's the rules. **

** So, I'm stuck here until Lynn tells someone she loves me? How likely is that to happen! She's in _chaos!_ Why would she say anything about it to them! **He nearly tripped up on the word Love. This whole situation seemed horribly surreal, and he was still very skeptical; he wouldn't believe it until he personally heard it from Lynn's mouth, no matter how much he wanted to.

** Go get someone else to unstuck me, ** Gainel told her, **I can't wait around for that. **

** Unfortunately for you, there is no one who can help you. No one, that is, except for me. **

** …The whole universe is screwed. **Gainel stated dryly.

Apfel looked slightly affronted,** You know what? If that's your attitude then maybe I should just leave? **

Gainel snuffed unsympathetically.

He Goddess seemed to finally show an emotion other than strident ditzy-ness, as her face showed she was stressed, and saddened.

** Sorry, if it's any consolation, I've felt vibes coming from both of you for some time and it's absolutely killed me that I couldn't do anything about until this point: you may not realize it but all of us could see that you haven't been very happy in millennia, and we've felt very bad about the whole situation. **

Oddly enough, the fact that she'd told him that and apologized _was_ a small consolation, even if it brought back all those feelings of hopelessness he'd been trying to push away until now.

He still hadn't told Lynn he loved her. And every minute _Discord _was likely trying to poison her mind with her lies and falsehoods. That mind that was so determined in the face of danger, that loved learning and was always thinking, and hoping…

** But you do know, ** Apfel said slightly hesitantly, ** That it isn't _her _who hasn't confessed, it's you—. **

Gainel decided to ignore the fact that she should have told him that sooner. ** _I_ haven't? But…No, I must have— **

** Nope, you haven't told anyone. Lynn told her brother yesterday. **

Gainel didn't bother to ask Apfel how she knew that; Gods had their ways, as he himself knew from experience.

** Apfel, tell me and tell me truly, why is that I'm always the last one to know _anything_ and _everything_? **

She struck a standard, thinking pose. ** Hmm, I don't know. You're just unlucky I suppose. **

** That aside, I love her; with everything I am. **

Apfel, smiled amusedly, her turquoise eyes delighted. ** Now, that wasn't so hard now, was it? **

** I would glare, but I can't. **

The goddess of love made another pouting face, but grabbed Gainel's arm and forcefully began to phase him.

He could feel the resistance as she pulled at him. It seemed as if the entire Cosmos was trying to keep him there, but something 'gave', almost like a tear. It felt to him as if everything were quaking and then–

It righted itself.

"Get off of me; you're heavy." Apfel said not bothering to left him head the command himself, she shoved him off of her after Gainel had popped out of his frozen state, to topple both of them to the ground.

Checking his dexterity, Gainel, bent and stretched all his joints and tested his senses; they were all clear. In fact, they were enhanced. He'd never been able to sense anything past the very barrier that _Discord_ had entrapped him within, but now—

"Is that…" Gainel blinked and spun on his heals, not knowing whether to be terrified or ecstatic. "Did you have anything to do with this?" he asked her.

"To do with what?"

She seemed honest enough. Gainel's mind was racing; how was this _possible_!

"With this." He answered, and then phased his hand into the barrier, then pulled it out again.

She seemed as stunned as he.

"I-No-I—." she stuttered. He was shocked but there was time enough to ponder the repercussions later.

"Go to our brother Mithros, and inform him of the events that have taken place here." He told her, once again taking up the Mantel of the Dream King. She nodded dumbly at him as he turned toward the divine realms and Chaos, where Lynn awaited him.

He _wouldn't_ fail her again; everything could wait until she was safe; the strange happenings, and what they would do; where they would go from there, it was all put aside. For the first time in years, Gainel was at peace.

And he crossed the realms, into Chaos.

_And Providence smiled, as The Balance tipped back in Gainel and Lynn's favor; they might have a chance, afterall._


	18. Part III: Madness

I don't own it, I'm sure you knew that…and by it I mean anything by Tamora Pierce; because obviously she owns it. It's hers. But I'm sure you already knew that…

**Reviews! Yes!**

**Nativewildmage** Whoo-hoo! I rule the realm! That's not a bad Idea really, Bow down, before your queen! Queen LiquidG! Just kidding. Anyways, please don't hurt me Nwm, I'm trying to update fast still. My Pre-Cal teacher gave me homework on my first day. Math teachers are mean like that; I know from experience, every year it's the same…

I can't help putting in humorous things. I think they are humorous anyways, and I'm glad you agree. This is why I don' write humor much, I'm afraid I'll be the only one to think thinks are funny…

Whatever, Please enjoy the chapter, and review!

Numair's Lover I'll try, though like I said, I can't promise anything. Thanks for sympathizing with school. I think I'd actually _like_ school if it weren't for all that homework. I mean, that's what school is _for_! For _school! Not_ for _home!_ School is supposed to be like our work right? Most jobs, you do your eight hours and you're done (besides chores and things but kids have those, _and_ school, _and_ homework). I could rant about the absolutely shitty school system, both in the US and especially in California, but I won't; you don't want to hear it. 

I'm glad you like the longer chapters; I didn't break my record, but it is a slightly longer one, (though most of that from long responses, ahh!), **AND THANKS EVERYONE WHO REVIEW LAST CHAPTER!** You all absolutely beat my former chapter review record of five into the ground by giving me a whopping _nine_ reviews! Whoo-hoo!

Read and review again please!

**Daine's Twin**, german? Er…not that I know of. If it has any correlation to German, it's purely a coincidence. I just thought it up and I liked it. So I used it. And before anyone asks, it was also kind of a coincidence that the apple was there and Apfel's name is what it is, that is to say, very similar to 'apple'. I don't know what I was thinking, but I hadn't realized it when I was writing it down. Anyways, it's good to know it's german, that's cool, does it mean anything, do you know? I'd like to know if you do. Thanks for the informative review, and review again! I love to hear from you guys and gals.

**Ivory Nightshade** of course I looked for you're story! I've actually taken a look in at everyone who has me on their favorite's list's stuff. Everyone's. Although there's only fourteen of you, so I suppose I'm not that spectacular, (a lot of you haven't reviewed me before please do! Please? It would make me happy.).

And I love long reviews. _And_ you separated them into paragraphs! Just how I like them! Thankies! Read and review again please!

**Feifiefofum**, of course I'm not doing it on purpose. And to my defense I was rushing to post it before I had to go to bed; I have to wake up at six AM now, for school. Truelove is one word, Microsoft Word scolded me with those malicious red squiggles when I typed them separately, and 'untilboth' doesn't show up as one word on my copy of the text; they are separate there, so you can hardly blame me for that. Yet more evidence that errors occur when you upload it. I don't understand why it does that and I don't hear of anyone else with the problem. It makes me angry! AHHH!

Is Gainel a _guy_? Just because he wasn't attracted to Apfel? I know just because Gainel isn't horny around every chick he sees like _someone_ I know…just kidding. Actually I wrote that for a purpose. Here's the explanation:

**EVERYONE WILL WANT TO KNOW THIS! IT'S PRETTY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND!**

_Why doesn't Gainel feel anything for Apfel_—Well, number one, gods don't put as much store on appearance as mortals do. They have a sort of 'default' appearance that they can't change, but if they want to, they can appear to look different then they are. Secondly, though gods definitely have 'urges', as it were, (Gainel proved that one, eh? No, I'm not Canadian, I just like to say 'eh', is that so bad?), it's not usually near as bad as it is for mortals, that's why it was so unusual for Gainel to have them so badly for Lynn. Thirdly, what _really_ turns a god/goddess on, is strong elemental affinity that corresponds with _their_ elemental affinity. It's not everything, but it makes things more interesting, if you know what I mean; everything's enhanced. Fourthly, Gainel is heart-bonded/soul-bonded/truelove-bonded/destiny-bonded (they are all names for the same thing: an _extremely_ powerful emotional and magical bond. This also really enhances feelings and that sort of thing; it's the purest kind of love there is. That's one reason why everyone wants one, but usually it doesn't happen very often. It takes a certain amount of power in both of the people involved, and a certain amount of an elemental affinity,) because he's bonded, he's never going to really feel much from any other woman. Fifthly, Apfel's arrogance is an absolute turn-off for Gainel; he hates arrogance. And Sixthly and finally, just how would everyone feel if, say, Daine started getting the hots for some random guy in a ficlet that's supposedly about Daine and Numair finally realizing the have loved each other desperately for so long? Not only would it defy the point, it would be just wrong! So there you have it.

Yes, _Apfel_ is very arrogant and flaunts herself. She really thinks she's very funny, and cute, and that sort of thing; even though she isn't, necessarily.

_Concerning Apfel and The Black God_, yes he is 'the dark, silent type', so he has to have someone rather bright and loud to offset him. Also, with Apfel being his consort, it matches perfectly with his daughter being The Graveyard Hag (because whether any of you caught that or not in TEM, it's true), or at least I think so. Her elements of obnoxiousness and his of coldness mix rather well to make ol' Haggy's personality. As well as Blacky's death-ness and Apfel's curve for destiny and good fortune (and love) mix to make Haggy's element of chance and gambling (isn't love always a gamble?) as well as the watcher of graveyards. Her ugliness is also pretty comparable to Apfel's beauty and the irony is pretty typical of mythological pantheons of gods. Yes, I think a lot about these sorts of things.

And I don't think you're lame, although I think you like to nit-pick me just to get a response. And thank you for asking these philosophical-related questions, it gives me a chance to show off how smart and creative I think (key word there, _think_. I'm pretty full of myself, and intelligence and creativity are relative, so you might have a different opinion,) I am.

Well, read and review please. Toodles!

**Kaito-Orenji**, nope, she's not a canon character. I made her up! The fact that you had to ask is the best compliment ever! I really try to get my characters to fit in with canon.

And I'm glad you thought I did a good job describing chaos. That's only one part of it though, it's really crazy there, you'll see a little more of it in this chapter; tell me what you think!

Read and review, again! Please!

**Allisarte**, hey, you reviewed me! Yay! Did you know I have Unwanted Beauty on my favorites list? Did you look me up from there, or happen to stumble upon my little corner of Either way, you're a new reviewer! Thanks, about the summery, I don't think I'm very good at them; I tried my best. It's really hard to fit the essence of a story into about 270 characters (including spaces). And you're not such a bad writer yourself, it just takes practice, and reading five +500-paged books a month also helps, (yes, I'm a nerd,) reading helps your writing. Thanks for sympathizing with school, I sympathize with you're situation, I was doing the same thing, scrambling to get that last chapter up the Sunday night before school started.

Good luck with your writing, and read and review!

**Colleen/WalkInDreams**, every time I see your name I think of one of my best friends named colleen. It messes with me. You think it's really good? Yay! Thanks so much! Here's some more!

**Ace Ryn Knight**, don't worry about the reviews, this has been the best review turnout of all time! NINE! My best before was FIVE! That's a HUGE difference! To me anyways. You liked the 'I'd glare but I can't."? I'm so glad, I did too. The sad thing was, I kept saying all these jokes and conversations I could have them (and others) saying, for last chapter and future chapters, and my sister came in my room to tell me to stop talking to myself. The even sadder thing is that this happens all the time. I bet you know how I feel with school you've been back longer than me. You go to a year-round school? They start earlier, but you get more off for spring and winter break; so it's not too bad, especially if the school has air-conditioning. Mine does, mines traditional

Thanks for reviewing! Review again!

Finally, the story!

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part III: Madness**

**COME TO ME**

Lynn's nerves strained as her body began to move of its own volition. She found herself rising from the sand, her body not reacting to the buffeting storm, and she wasn't able to lift a hand to keep the sand from her eyes.

She passed _Discord_, who had been struggling to breathe a moment to go as Uusoae had cut off her ability to take in air. The goddess was now collapsed on the sand taking huge breaths of air with blood spilling from every orifice on her body. Lynn vaguely registered a blip in her senses, feeling _Discord_ begin to heal herself.

Lynn fought with all her strength; she felt her head would explode from the stain. But Uusoae had a solid grip on her mind, and Lynn banged and pounded on the presence she felt, but it wouldn't budge. She would have screamed, but her muscles wouldn't do as she commanded.

She felt herself stumble. It seemed Uusoae wasn't particularly used to making others walk remotely; Lynn was staggering all over the place, jerkily moving her legs with odd muscle spasms.

A lightening struck the ground not a few feet away, and a tree sprung up suddenly and died, turning to dust and becoming one with the dunes. Lynn would have shrieked but once again she wasn't able.

Uusoae let out a sickening laugh that pelted through Lyn's brain.

**THIS IS CHAOS, GIRL; THERE IS NO PREDICTING WHAT COULD HAPPEN.**

Lynn finally lurched to within a foot of the Queen of Chaos, and she collapsed at the Goddess's feet, her power no longer keeping her moving and upright. Lynn felt the presence in her mind lessen and she was once again in control of her body.

Lynn gasped from the mental effort it had taken to try to remove Uusoae from controlling her brain. She sucked in some more sand and coughed as Uusoae appeared to turn her attention back to the now fully healed, but visibly shaken, _Discord_

**YOU DISOBEY MY ORDERS.** The goddess stated flatly, and_ Discord_ twitched violently at the mental sound of the voice, resounding in her mind.

"_Mistress, please forgive your servant!"_ Discord begged, and flung herself to the ground next to Lynn, who jerked away hurriedly from the Goddess, scrambling crab-like, backwards across the sand; Lynn didn't want to be anywhere near either of them.

**I GAVE THIS TASK TO YOU, BECAUSE YOU ASSURED ME YOU WOULD TAKE MORE CARE WITH THE MORTAL'S LIFE THAN VIOLENCE.**

"_The mortal angered me!"_ _Discord_ spat vehemently, as she explained, _"She INSULTED me—!"_

**THERE CAN BE NO EXCUSES**, Uusoae's profound statement seemed to ring across the landscape, making the winds howl louder and more forcefully.

_Discord_ whimpered and seemed and shrank away, but Uusoae didn't seem to notice; either that or she didn't care.

While this had occurred, Lynn had tried backing up some more, but once she went a certain distance, her muscles screamed and she couldn't go any farther.

She once again examined the mental presence after it still wouldn't give to her berating of its mental shields, and found that it as over the part of her brain that controlled muscle movement, but not over anything else.

Uusoae wasn't listening to her thoughts, and she wasn't preventing the use of her powers; however, Lynn couldn't transform, as it would reshape and move her muscles, which Uusoae had control over. Transforming would also be worthless; it wouldn't help to free her mind, or get away from chaos.

Lynn blinked. Phasing. Uusoae wasn't stopping her from phasing.

Her track record thus far wasn't very promising, she had yet to be able to phase dimensions on her own, but she could try.

If not for her sake, then for Gainel's, she had to get out of here; she wouldn't be Uusoae's tool.

Gainel, he was probably still trapped there. She hadn't been able to free him and he was in this mess because of her.

_It's all my fault but still…Oh Gainel, I…I just wish we could be together. _It seemed the most ridiculous place and time to suddenly break down over her situation, but she just felt like crying. She was in Chaos, the prisoner of Uusoae with no hope of getting out alive except for a power she'd never been able to use properly, probably no one knowing she was here except for Gainel who was trapped.

She was going to die. Either that or Chaos would take over and she'd probably still die along with everywhere else. She'd wanted to be strong for him, for Gainel, to show he hadn't made a bad choice of making her his charge, and then maybe they'd…

But she'd been strong, as strong as she could manage and she just didn't think she could take it any more. She had an ear-splitting headache, and the expression on her face that was half-way between the scrunched up look one wore when they cried and a look of pure terror was doing a number on the muscles in her face. She was so tense she thought she'd snap, and she ached in her muscles and bones in a way that couldn't be healed. It was the hurt of being world-weary and tired from stress, trauma and anxiety.

She thought she was going to break and cry until she realized she _was_ crying, and had been for the passed few minutes by the amount of tears on her face making tear-tracked through the dust and sand coated on it. She didn't want to let any sound escape, but she had to keep her mouth open to breathe, her nose was swollen and running and her eyes were burning from the effort of crying.

_Stop it, Stop it, STOP IT! YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS! _She screamed to herself but her sobs increased until she was sure that Uusoae and _Discord_, no matter what they were discussing, must be able to hear her. She was gasping for air between sobs as her throat started to close up as well; and her headache got worse and worse by the moment.

After a moment she realized she was laughing. _I must be insane…_ she thought. The situation wasn't funny or ridiculous. She tried to stop. To stop laughing, to stop crying, to stop thinking, to stop caring…

_Do I care if live or die? Would it really make a difference?_

She couldn't think of anyone or anything that needed her. The more she thought, the more she began to believe that her whole life was a waste of space, time and effort. She hadn't done anything to help anyone; she didn't have a career or a life's goal.

She wasn't anything to anyone. _Would anyone care if I were gone?_ She mused to herself. Her family perhaps…that was about it. She hadn't done any good for the people, she wasn't famous, she didn't provide any services…she was pointless.

_Would Gainel care?_ _Rikash said he had run away because he was afraid I'd reject him. ME. A MORTAL…How could I—how could ANYONE—say no to a God, especially Gainel…_

She'd made her choice.

She opened her eyes, burning and bloodshot as they were without her transforming powers to help heal the effects, and saw that Uusoae and _Discord _were still speaking.

"_Mistress! I won't fail you again, I wish to serve chaos!"_ _Discord_ pleaded, now no longer on the floor, but in kneeling, with her head bowed to her knee and her right hand in a fist against her heart. Her black dress fluttered in the wind, still with stains of darker black and gold on the silky fabric.

SEE THAT IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN, DISCORD, BECAUSE THE PUNISHMENT SHALL BE SWIFT AND FINAL.

"_Yes, Mistress! Thank you, Mistress!"_

**NOW, IT WOULD PLEASE ME, IF YOU WOULD TAKE THE MORTAL TO THE GATE. WE SHALL SOON BE READY FOR OUR DEPARTURE TO FREEDOM.**

The hunger was easily distinguishable in her words as she mentioned freedom, and Discord nodded, still with her head down until Uusoae departed in a rippling of her image, and than she was gone.

The shield was gone; but before Lynn could react, she was knocked flat on the sand dune by a slap in the face; and there was a new shield, slightly less strong, but this one was preventing her from using her powers at all.

She mentally cursed. She been hoping she could somehow manage to phase away, but this put a kink in her plans.

She'd have to get out some other way; Lynn decided, because she had chosen to live; if for nothing else, for the sole reason that she had seen Gainel depressed beyond all hope of salvation, that morning when she'd dropped into his garden. She'd seen him, and the older and wiser she became, the more she looked back and saw how horribly he had truly felt. And she brought some small comfort to his life; she didn't want to take it away from him.

She _had_ to live; she realized, it was her _right_ to be able to live. She'd been born so she could make whatever she wanted of life, she had the freewill to choose for herself. Maybe she hadn't made much of a name for herself in the last few years of her life, but if she wanted to, she could change that.

Not that she cared about being famous or anything, but she saw that she'd been going through life in a daze, not really having much of a purpose.

A purpose.

Lynn smiled as _Discord _turned to her with a glare that would have put the fear of the gods in the most stubborn of religious-critics.

"You may have gotten away with insulting me this time, but as soon as we're finished with you, there will be no escaping my wrath. A mortal is NOT the equal of a God; and I swear that I will prove it to you by the most violent and painful means possible…"

_A purpose?_ Lynn's smile turned into a smirk at the goddess of Discord's promise. Well, if she needed a purpose, then for now, giving Chaos as hard a time as possible, hopefully getting free and humiliating _Discord_ to no end, and eventually kicking Chaos's snobby ass, would due for now until Lynn found something she thought to be more rewarding.

But then again, who could think of anything more rewarding than having the evil-minded goddess of discord glaring daggers you because you didn't find her all together intimidating?

"You're so full of yourself." Lynn said calmly, and she thought she saw a vein spasm in the blond goddess's forehead.

"That's it, mortal, just keep pushing your luck, because one day you won't be so lucky…You won't have your powers or little Gainel to save you from, and I won't let the opportunity pass me by…"

"What did you say? I wasn't really paying attention…" Lynn said casually but despite the lack of physical reaction from _Discord_, Lynn knew that she was livid; the tension in the air and the vibes coming from her body were a dead give away.

Lynn decided that _Discord_ had good advice, even if it wasn't giving it with Lynn's best interest in mind, she didn't want push her luck with the Goddess just yet…

"_Walk mortal, we go to the Gate."_ _Discord_ ordered harshly and grabbed Lynn's arm in a death-grip that threatened to break her bones. Lynn hissed at the pain of it, knowing she'd have a bruise there later, but didn't say anything otherwise.

_Discord_ practically drug her through the sand, although as they continued, the landscape blurred and it felt like they were in a whirling tunnel, and not walking in the flurry of sand, dust and wind they had been but a moment before.

Despite the fact that Lynn's powers were impaired, she could still feel the subtle energy differences as the Goddess was phasing. Her own body followed, not reacting by thought, but by some automatic reaction for her body. Lynn tried to watch and focus on remembering the feeling so that she might duplicate it, without letting _Discord_ know she was.

The tunnel disappeared and all around her was complete blackness, yet strangely she could see herself and _Discord_ as if they were walking in very bright sunlight, which seemed to glare against the pitch of their surroundings; Lynn had to squint and raise her eyes to ward off the light reflecting off of _Discord_, but the light from her own arm made the effort pointless. It was dizzying her brain, because there was no distinguishable sky, sun, moon, star, or cloud; just flat black. And besides that, it was _hot_, Lynn was sweating profusely, it felt like a spotlight of fire was on her. For a moment she thought she saw smoke or steam coming off her and the goddess's skin.

Then a shadow seemed to pass over them and the glare dimmed, as if the light had been coming from the sun all along, though she couldn't see it, and she had the feeling they were going underground despite the fact that she had no reason to think this except that she now had the chills because of the sudden temperature change from extremely hot to very cold, and Lynn and the goddess of discord both looked like they were in dim light, yet they still seemed out of place in the infinite blackness.

Lynn was freezing cold as the visibility finally seemed to return to normal as it became so dim she lost sight of _Discord's_ vice-gripping hand on her upper arm.

Lynn wasn't used to being unable to see; she'd always had her powers to help her, and as soon as she was six she'd begun to shape-shift, often switching out her human eyes for those able to make sense of lightlessness.

Her body was going into something resembling shock as she took the smallest steps possible, violently pulling it her foot back multiple times before she could make herself put it onto the ground. She was breathing heavily and the inside of her mouth was becoming dry as she left it open to get enough air to function. She felt her jaw rattling, she was shivering, although she suspected it was partly from the cold, most she believed to be from her fear of the darkness. She didn't realize she was whimpering until she heard _Discord's_ snap, echoing from the depths of the blackness.

"_Pick up your feet and stop sniveling, MORTAL,"_ she snuffed, _"You're ridiculous human notions are not of my concern."_ She said and the grip on her arm tightened further as _Discord_ pulled on her even more, to bring their speed up to what it had been.

Lynn couldn't see her hands and she flailed her hands everywhere to try and locate the griping hand, her whimpers turning into small wails as the Goddess pulled her painfully along.

"_Be silent! Except your fate!"_ she screamed again. The shape-shifter vaguely felt _Discord_ trying to reinforce her verbal command with a mental compulsion, but Lynn's mind wasn't responding to it. The compulsion spell broke a part, not even calming or coercing Lynn in the slightest.

Lynn's flailing hand hit the Goddess's dead on, the vibration of the two's strike sending a fizzing-numb feeling streaking up Lynn's bone. She heard _Discord_ hiss, maybe in anger or pain, but she other wise only repeated her same demands louder.

"_Help me HELP ME_!" Lynn shrieked hoarsely, her voice straining, tears running down her eyes for the third time that day. Her nose was running and a salty tear ran into her mouth.

_Gainel, help me!_ She thought wildly and that too, was added into her verbal pleads and _Discord_ took up a harsh dialogue, shouting at her how much Gainel hated or disliked her, that he'd never come to her rescue, even if he weren't constrained himself, but Lynn wasn't listening and her own blood-curding screams drowned out anything _Discord_ could manage at the moment, with the effort of dragging her, even using magic to hall the girl, her essence was easily resisting all of her attempts.

Lynn, her mind racing, fought at the invisible hand madly, screaming no as the goddess was forced to grab her with both hands and the new object coming from seemingly nowhere sent Lynn into even greater hysterics. She couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed, and she felt claustrophobic as if the blackness was a solid object, trying to smother her. Her screams reached a peak and the Goddess's mind struck at Lynn's rendering her immobile. Lynn felt herself falling and she felt dizzy and nauseous as the scenery didn't change but she felt the power of gravity pull her down to some unseen floor that Lynn had been trying not to think about.

It felt like she was falling forever: she didn't hit the ground. It was then that she realized she hadn't been falling at all, she was now walking even more gawkily then she had as Uusoae was controlling her.

But the fear wasn't gone: the fear of the darkness, the fear of the unknown. In fact, not being able to express it was sending her consciousness into temporary insanity.

_Discord_ was straining to keep the girls mind in check but it wasn't working, the dark seemed to have unlocked some phobia, making her mind erratic and hard to control.

The mortal's conscious pounded at her own, almost knocking the goddess unconscious as she tried to hold it at bay. _Discord_ lost enough control that Lynn was able to shriek herself raw once more, her screams barely understandable because of the straining she was putting her vocal cords through.

A bolt struck the goddess and she temporarily heard the mortal's thoughts blaring in her mind:

**_!GainelNoNoDarkHelpMeHelpMeNoGainelDarkGainelGainelHelpMeDarkDarkNoHelpMeNoGainelNoNoNoDarkHelpMeNo!_**

The force of the thought made her flinch and she tried to shove it away from her, but the girl's fear was so strong and she shattered _Discord's _control and she felt the girl's mind move off along with her screams until they could not be heard.

_No matter_, the goddess thought. They had been almost upon the border between the dark ocean and the small little area of land where the Chaos Gate rested, and all the paths of energy converged.

The mortal would find her own way, and _Discord_ could have some peace and rest before Uusoae arrived with the rest of the thousands, millions of chaos-gods, -creatures and -constructs. She just hoped the girl didn't get to lost, and even that she got out very soon; not because she cared for her, but because to risk her mental stability would mean worse than death to the goddess; Uusoae had promised her that.

Though she told herself she was calm, that the girl's mental strength was of no import, the gatekeeper was shaking tremendously; a _mortal_ had broke through her control as if it were nothing. Granted she was going into hysterics, and fear always enhanced ones powers, it was still unnatural and unnerving. _Discord _continued through the blackness to the Chaos Gate.

_The turn of events was shocking as The Balance swung back and forth between the two opposing forces swiftly and erratically; and Providence wondered if perhaps more to the situation than even such a one as **he** had perceived… _


	19. Part III: The Gate of Chaos

I am not Tammy. I do not own most of the Characters in this Fanfiction. I am too lazy to think of anything witty. It is hard. I run out of brain power…sometimes…like now…I suppose I shall have to settle for this drawling, short sentence, passive voice. How drab of me.

Everyone! Read my new story! **Turn from Shadow** if you haven't already! If you didn't like chapter one, try chapter two, it's a lot more along the lines of Prov Sm. Second chapter is really angst, actually. Just try please!

Oh, and a note on the appearances of _Discord_ and _Violence_, I reread _The Realms of the Gods_ and found out that a description of them _was_ mentioned. However, call me crazy, or arrogant, or whatever, but I like mine better, so I'm not going to change it. You all will have to deal with it, sorry, but too bad. Besides, there are all kinds of things I could say to justify my descriptions and how they might be able to look different. But I'm not going to list them unless one of you all wants me to; so there.

**Reviews! I love them SOOOOOO!**

**Ivory Nightshade,** I know, he was going to be, but the whole scene got too long. So I had to split things up. He's not in this either but I'm doing a double post so he's in the next one! I love him dearly.

I like paragraphs, as I said before. When it's all in one chunk, my eyes go swirly and eyes get confused. And fourteen people got me on their favorites yes! I'm so happy too, I don't take those lightly! I'm so proud of Prov Sm. And yes there was a lot of moping in the last one…and insanity…and thoughts of suicide…I think that's kind of weird because I never really think much about those sorts of things myself. Although I've often had those randomly occurring times when you wonder _is any of this really happening?_ Yeah, I actually get those a lot, they freak me out. Thank you so much for the review! Review again please!

**Colleen/WalkInDreams **Yes, about the darkness-phobia. It's not so much a darkness phobia as an unable to see/understand/sense phobia and it's never happened to her before, because her sens have never been cut off like that before, so how could she have known about? I sort of put it in at the last minute, I was typing and that's what came out. Hopefully this chapter clears it up a bit, or makes it more realistic or whatever. If it doesn't, say something in a review, and I will think about how to make it fit better. I am planning on editing everything after I'm finished, to make it flow better, but there won't be much changed except for awkward parts, non-matching info, and grammar/spelling stuff. Same ol' Prov Sm, just slightly smoother. It won't be till I'm finished that I do this though, I have enough trouble trying to type everything new up without trying to fix past mistakes too. Thanks for the input and the review! Review again please! I love hearing from you guys!

**Allisarte** YES, I KNOW IT'S BAD! Although I think I'm getting better at fixing them, they are still tyrannically jumping out to bite me everywhere! I don't hate you, it bothers me often when I read other peoples stuff and it's riddled with mistakes…I'm a hypocrite I suppose. I'll try but like always I can't promise anything, so much stuff escapes me because I know what it's _supposed_ to be so my mind just skips over it. Thanks for the review! Hopefully this is better I looked over it more than the last few, tell me please.

**Feifiefofum** No! I remember when I got grounded from the computer last year… it was _awful_. I wasn't doing my homework. But I'm doing it this year, I learned my lesson. There is _NO_ chance this compy is going to be taken this year, no sir! I feel for you man, and thanks for sneaking in a review. I wish you could point out my horrendous mistakes also. And yup, Provy got a long line last time. Review when you get the chance please, hope you enjoy it.

**Daine's Twin** Apple, Apfel. Oh my god, this is such a coincidence it's not even funny. It's like…Friggin' craziness. It's absolute insanity. But cool none the less. Thanks for the German lesson. And I read **Just Winging It**, I love it, not many people write about Shinko and Roald. I could wish the chapters were longer but hey, I always want the chapters longer. They could be 10,000 words each and I'd _still _want them longer. Thanks for reviewing!

**Nativewildmage** Thanks for reviewing again! I hope you like these two! More Gainel in chapter 20.

**Ace Rynn Knight**, I thought you were Year-round, because they start a lot earlier in the year than Traditional scheduled schools. And man, I've been to south-Sacramento, or through it rather, I feel for you. AWFUL smells round them cows. Nearly killed me, I swear. Cows as far as the eye can see with no end in sight. My nose wanted to commit suicide, I think. Luckily the rest of me wouldn't let it. It could probably have been worse though, I don't have a very good sense of smell.

Thanks, I love it when people appreciate my in-depth character analysis sort-of-deals. I feel all warm and fizzy inside. Yes, warm and fizzy, not fuzzy, I don't like the fuzz; but I like the fizz; comes from drinking too much soda. I tried to keep Lynn and Rikash realistic and as Daine/Numair like as I could. I want this story to be like a continuation of the books; but better if I have my way; not sure if I'm succeeding but I'm trying. Nothing can surpass the original series, but I hope this is at least worthy of it.

And I think I'm as bad or worse then you about speaking conversations aloud. Because I make jokes…and laugh at them…that's just pathetic. My most hilarious ones are Rikash nit-picking Gainel and Gainel petting piqued. Or at least I think they're hilarious. I'm trying to think of a situation where I can actually use them in the fic though.

**Providence Smiles **

By LGR

**Part III: The Gate of Chaos**

Breaking free of _Discord's_ mind control, Lynn's senses immediately reverted to normal, but the sudden phobia that had sent adrenalin and fear coursing through her would not dissipate. She continued her mindless scramble, with neither the doorway back to cognizant perception nor to the light, within view.

Fumbling and screaming her way through the blackness, she tripped over something, her own feat she realized later, and fell crashing into a ground that felt like granite, cut with such precision it had the texture of smooth glass.

It was hard, cold, and unforgiving as she slammed into the ground, the force of it, despite her automatic response of slapping the ground from two and a half years of Shang training from Eda Bell, knocking the wind out of her as her knee hit first. The hard surface didn't give in the least, and she felt the first stabs of awareness at the edge of her brain as her knee split and she felt blood running down her leg and seconds later her body told her that it _HURT._

Her hip also fell hard, and she knew it was bruised. Her palms stung fiercely from where they struck the unforgiving floor. She'd been flung so swiftly from her running, that even with her falling position as it was, her head had still swung forward like a rock from a sling, to catch her jaw on that hard surface. It too, was bruised.

For a moment she lay there, taking deep breathes as her mind cleared and her fear finally dissipated. Lynn began to calm, as the feelings of the cold ground, the pain in her knee, jaw and hands, and her shortness of breathe, cut through her numbness and hysteria, giving her mind something to latch onto that was real, and of that physical world that the blackness obscured from her sight.

Her powers freed, she could now sense the properties of this dark realm that was a part of Chaos, easing her hysteria into a semblance of tranquility. But though her eyes had automatically shifted through every kind of eye that had ever existed on any animal, none could penetrate that darkness. It was as if light didn't exist there.

_I really freaked out,_ she thought,_ that's never happened to me before. _

She knew that what she had experienced was some hidden phobia. Some fear of the darkness that she'd never had till this point, but then again this was the first time she'd ever been _completely_ cut off from visible sensation, without her shape shifting or sensing powers to help illuminate her way.

It was this darkness; it was so complete and alien. There were no shadows or flickering of any movement. It felt like a solid veil, separating her from her body, which she couldn't see. It was smothering her. And even now, she was having trouble breathing because of it. This quickness of breathe was making her light-headed, or was it the darkness doing that?

Not being able to _see_ herself, made her wonder whether her body really existed, had ever existed…

_Of course it did and still does, you ninny, _she told herself,_ it hurts too much not to, don't let this darkness get to you. How would Gainel feel if you just gave up because of a little shade in front of your eyes? For shame!_ She told herself.

Shame, she was feeling it now. And not only for letting have the inky surroundings got the better of her, but for going insane. It didn't speak well for Lynn's mental stability that she had done so. What if it meant everything else she'd ever done or felt or seen was different then what she'd perceived? Some figment of an unstable psyche? What if Gainel wasn't…

_You're not insane! Stop being an idiot!_ Her mind told her. For some reason it had the voice of Rikash. He often told her she was stupid, whether she deserved it or not. She thought she deserved it right now.

She fought to control her shape shifting powers to heal her knee, and jaw; her palms were beginning to feel better naturally. But she was so tired, after all that had happened that day: Freaking out multiple times, being thrown about, knocked-out, and not having any rest or food; she just wanted to crawl into a bed and sleep.

Likely the main thing that kept her from sleeping on that floor, was that it was God's-awfully uncomfortable. She'd wake-up feeling worse than before she'd slept. And besides, there was work to be done: saving Gianel, for one thing, getting out of this place for another.

So, gathering the dregs of her strength, she healed her busted knee and dampened the pain in her jaw. She immediately felt slightly better, although that was off-set by the lessoning of her remaining energy. And with the pain of her knee gone, she found that her throat was burning like fire. She'd screamed herself raw while in _Discord's_ hold. She decided to chance the energy loss to heal her throat and vocal chords enough to get rid of the pain. They were still damaged, but at least every intake of breathe or swallow of saliva didn't make her wince.

Tiredness fought with stress and the need to stay alert. Adrenalin was still coursing through her, although that was beginning to diffuse into her system, leaving her more drained than ever. The battle of the two seemed even, until she called up an Image of Gainel and she was ready for more. Though she was as exhausted as she'd ever been, a new wave of strength came to her and she pulled herself up from the glass-smooth floor and stood up.

The lack of a horizon, or a standing object, or even any object at _all_, interfered with her balance. She leaned back and forth while trying to stand straight. She decided it was the best she could hope for, considering the situation. Having her balance slightly off was the _least _of her problems

She used her senses again, shifting through all the blackness until she felt a tinge of difference.

There, there was her way out of this place.

Hobbling toward it, Lynn zoned out. She walked forward automatically, the rest of her too tired to think properly.

She should have left her throat alone, she thought in between nods of sleepiness, it would have left her more energy, and the pain would have kept her awake. She stumbled more and more, and it got harder to keep her head up.

The darkness made her think of night. Night was when human's slept. Her mind wanted her to sleep, but at the same time, it knew it was an unnatural darkness and still feared it. She was tired and stressed, so she didn't realized she was out of the dark until it flashed bright as the sun in her eyes. She would have yelped, but her throat still wasn't functioning properly enough, so it came out as a barely audible gasp.

The light seemed bright to her eyes, but it was actually extremely dim and flickering, like torchlight. And as her eyes adjusted to it, her body and mind relaxed muscles she hadn't realized she'd been tensing until that moment.

It was the Gate of Chaos, rising up in its twining copper and iron glory, its metal glinting in the firelight from tall, ten-foot high lamps, on either side of the gate, of matching copper and iron cages with glass to protect the oil-fed flames from any wind. Around these lighted lamps, were small clouds of giant white moths with ghostly, light-blue false-eyes; a small trail of glittering, white dust falling off their paper-like wings.

It was an Island of glowing land inside the darkness. Surrounding an area of about fifty feet in diameter, was something that looked like a solid dome of blac kfog ; the dark billowed out in twisting curlicues of smoke, drifting lazily into the circle of glowing firelight, becoming opaque, and then disappearing all together.

The ground turned from glass or marble to hard earth as soon as the light reached it. The dirt looked purple where the lamps' light was diffused, and there were dried leaves strewn across it, despite the fact there were no trees in the clearing. And it was still deathly cold, and she shivered in the chill air, though her clothes were for autumn, they weren't near thick enough to block that piercing arctic air. Lynn spied frost playing across the ground as clinging to the dried leaves, gate, and lamp posts. Her breath matched the billowing darkness with its swirling white mistiness.

There was a slight vibration, audible even to her tired senses, and strange woops and soft wails were coming from the dark clouds. These sounds had not been present whilst she had been within. But as she moved away, they stopped suddenly. Turning back, the echoes hit her with full intensity once again. Then facing the gate for a second time, they were _again _mysteriously absent.

_Strange_, she thought, but didn't dare thing about it; she had more important things to do. Stepping up to the gate, she came right up to its iron and glowing copper latch.

This was the Gate of Chaos; shouldn't _Discord_ or _Violence_ be here? She wondered.

Dare she touch it? Could she get out this way? She reached her hands to its shining latch, inching it forward, her breathing coming quickly. She was going to touch the Gate of Chaos. She was going to do it. Her finger was mere centimeters form the latch when she spied a closed, dead-bolt-lock with two key holes, attached to the latch that she hadn't seen before. Pulling on the dead-bolt, she groaned.

It was locked.

How could she have thought it would be that easy? Sighing, she walked in a circle pacing, trying to think of what she could do to escape, and coming up with no answers.

Finally, she sat down dejected in the purple hued dirt, hugging her legs close to her; she gazed up at the glowing moths fluttering around the lamps. They looked serene within this place of Chaos; they seemed out of place, but she was glad of their presence.

All she could think of was to somehow manage to phase-shift out of here. _It might be easier with the gate there_, she hoped, though she wasn't really sure how the portal worked, and her guess had no evidence to back it up. For all she knew it might be _harder_ with the gate there…

She sighed but decided it was her last chance. And for some reason there was no one and nothing there to distract her. It was as good a time as any to practice; it could only help her situation.

Breathing deeply in a rhythmic fashion, she reached out with her senses. Her parents and brother would have said she was meditating, but she felt the word implied actually looking within one's self, to see magic or focus ones mind; she just wanted to See. To See her realm through all of this realm, and she had to change her vision, refocus her senses.

She'd yet to be able to so this in the living realms. To actually see the fabric of the universe, its many layers piled within and without each other in an endless, intertwining infinity. And now as she focused she almost had it, she was farther than she ever was before.

There, it was there.

_I'm coming Gainel, love._

She was doing it. Standing up, she phased and walked into the other universe—

A metallic ringing, like the sound of a million gongs and cymbals being pounded at once, ricocheted between her ears. Lynn gasped and was flung back into the ground.

Opening her eyes, she saw the iron and copper Gate of Chaos vibrating violently, making double and triple images of itself. The shaking felt like the most powerful and destructive earthquake she'd ever experienced multiplied ten-fold.

And then as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

She was still in Chaos.

Lynn collapsed back onto the ground and wanted to cry. Staring up into that dome of billowing blackness, she half expected to see stars twinkling, but there were none, only a stray white-silver moth, as it fluttered starkly against the black backdrop. Silver dust sprinkled off it's wings as she watched, depressed and feeling as low as ever; _lower_ even.

She finally used the last of her strength and her body demanded rest; trying to deny sleep's call was futile. Lynn closed her eyes, thinking, _Maybe Gainel will visit me as I dream,_ but then she realized he wasn't there. He couldn't visit her. She was alone. He was alone. They would likely never be together, ever again.

Exhaustion fogged her mind and she wasn't able to think any longer as she drifted to sleep.

_And holding the scales of the Universe was Providence, watching anxiously as The Balance swung back and forth between Victory and Utter Defeat…_


	20. Part III: No Longer Just A Dream

Yes, this disclaimer is pointless. Does anyone read this anyways? I don't own the Tortallan series. Wow. To think if I didn't put that I could be sued for all I've got and more. Pathetic really…

**Please read, enjoy, and review!**

Just because I love you all so much: you get two chapters at once! Aren't you lucky? And with chapter twenty, we break the +60,000 words barrier! Isn't that wondrous?

I'm alo going to say that this is likely the chapter you've all been waiting for, some more patiently than others. Remember to review and tell me how I did.

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part III: No Longer Just a Dream**

Dashing through the Layers of the Divine realms, Gainel crossed the threshold of his own domain in a flat out run, his vision changing from inversed swatches of colors representing the many dimensions of the universe, to the sunshine, and cool breeze of Dream.

There was a Chaos-vent he knew of very close by. He could easily gain access to Chaos from there, and the strain of the journey would be lessoned by Dream's proximity to the other realm.

Suddenly he stopped running, cocking his head, eyes wide in surprise and near denial at what he was sensing as he examined the dream-pools more closely.

She was there. Lynn's mind was there in Dream. He would recognize her soaring thought-patterns anywhere, _especially_ in his own realm, where he had listened for them anxiously nights upon end, just to catch a glimpse of her in a dream.

_She's asleep?_ What a stroke of luck he'd been dealt! Nearly in tears from this unlooked for gift, he felt as if Providence and The Balance must finally be on his side. This must be to make up for all anguish and heartache he'd experienced recently, it was only fair that _something_ good happen to him after so many unlucky events.

Searching out Lynn's conscious and feeling her mind's tie to her body, Gainel knew he didn't have to bother with using a Chaos-vent now; he could materialize directly where her body slept, which frankly relieved him to no end. Though for Lynn he would _gladly_ trudge through the shifting, unknown territory of Chaos with no clue where he was going or where he'd been, if there were a better way, he'd take it without hesitation.

And this was certainly better.

With her body's position locked in his mind, he pulled, commanding it to change it's location.

There was a terrible shaking and an explosion of sound as the barrier around Chaos rocked and strained to keep him from pulling Lynn through to the safety of the Divine realms.

Gainel was strong, but the Barrier was made to hold against Uusoae and all her minions combined. Sweat appeared on his brow as he fought to pull her through using the magic spell, but the barrier wouldn't budge in the least. The spell snapped, and back-lashed into him, with a shock that would likely have killed a mortal.

_Damn it, what a time for the barrier to actually WORK_! He thought at it angrily, gasping from the force of the broken spell. Healing the damage, Gainel had the distinct impression the barrier was snickering madly at him, despite the fact it was undoubtedly inanimate.

Gainel didn't find it _at all_ funny and he told it so, feeling tricked and cheated.

Why couldn't something be easy for a change? Why was nothing ever _simple? _He'd thought he'd had her only to have one more obstacle placed before him, and it was an obstruction created by none other than the Great Gods themselves. As soon as one barrier was broken another rose in its place, even more unassailable than the last; it was _maddening!_

Once again his hopes dropped to near despair. _Are we meant to never be together? Are we always to be separated by some barrier of emotion, law or magic?_

Shaking off his depressing thoughts, he thought of what other options were open to him.

He still had the tie to her, he could follow it to her exact position. This was dangerous there was no telling what the situation would be when he arrived, but at this point he didn't care: it was the fastest, most reliable way of getting to Lynn; the only trouble would be getting back out.

_I don't have to get her out necessarily;_ he realized,_ I just have to stall Uusoae until Apfel and the others arrive; they won't be too long…I hope._ If they come at all, was his next thought, but he refused to see that as a possibility. They would come; or likely the realms and all that lived within and without them would perish and cease to exist, swallowed by chaos in its hunger to engulf everything that was, is and would come to be. Its nature demanded it do naught else.

It was worth the risk, he decided. Uusoae couldn't kill him by the Laws that governed the Gods, and hopefully she'd heed them until she was assured of her precedence in the Living Realms. Only then might she have the power to stand against Mother Flame and Father Universe for even the briefest of instances.

Concentrating, he drew once again from the connection between Lynn's body and mind, but this time, instead of pulling her through to _him_, he locked her position firmly in his mind for a second time, and aligned _himself_ to _her_.

The effect of the spell was instantaneous. There was a blurring and fizzing of the air around him, and a flash of white exploded before his eyes as he was rushed at a speed faster then the momentary blink of an eye. The air was forcibly removed from the area with an audible _bang_, as he manifested himself, at his destination.

The first thing that hit him was the chilling cold and near complete darkness, but his eyes and senses adjusted as he investigated suspiciously through his surroundings expecting imminent danger—

—To find nothing of the kind. All was quiet, and there were no energy disturbances as a result of a living presence in the area. Most everything within the realm was much too far away to notice him, gathered together oddly in a single area.

Save for Lynn.

Just like her mind, the energy signature was as unique as a fingerprint, and he'd recognize hers alongside thousands. But right now, he didn't have to, because she was right there. Right there in front of him.

His breath caught as he saw her, firelight from a source he had yet to examine flickering across her dreaming form.

And this was real, not a meeting in dream or an idle fantasy. Even such imagination and reality mimicking powers as he and the realm of dream possessed combined, could not duplicate the physical meeting of two souls in its entirety; seeing someone in Dream was not the same as it was in the waking world. Though it might seem identical to the less sensitive, in the end, a dream would disappear as if it had never existed. And there was nothing that could change that.

One's subconscious always knew the truth, and meetings in dream never had the impact of the real thing. And he wondered now how he had ever contained himself in her presence; even in dream. Because at this moment every edge seemed harder, every color bolder, every thought, emotion and sense sharper, as if till she'd appeared, he'd been living a dream, and now he was finally awake.

"Lynn?" he asked softly, almost hesitantly, as if the moment might disappear as soon as his hopes were highest.

Lynn's body, half in shadow, half in firelight shifted slightly at the sound of his voice. He could see that her face was tight and pale from exhaustion and energy loss, and there were evidence of wounds inflicted upon her from the state of her clothes. The cloth covering her knee was saturated in blood and many areas showed signs of bruising.

Whoever had done this to his Lynn was going to pay; he stated, in his mind; they would pay _dearly_.

Her long, black eyelashes fluttered open to reveal gray-blue eyes, slightly bloodshot and having the glazed look of someone whose body was awake but whose mind hadn't quite caught up yet. She took a deep breath as her eyes locked onto him, and he saw the moisture condense from the chill of the air, coming out as a puff of wispy, white vapor. Shivering from the cold, she sat up stiffly, not taking her eyes off of him.

Lynn had been dreaming that Gainel had come to see her, but even as she dreamt, a small part of her subconscious told her it wasn't really him, it was a phantom conjured by her own mind. Gainel was trapped, maybe never to be free, and she was here to either die or to be used by Uusoae, then be swallowed by Chaos along everything else.

But through that dream, she heard something that was real; although when she opened eyes, she wasn't so sure.

It was the Master of Dream, standing before her looking somber and worried, just as she remembered him; black on white, with his sable hair and clothes, blending into the shadowed background, stark against the paleness of his skin tone. His eyes were hidden by a shade, and she couldn't guess his thoughts, as she sometimes could with others.

"I…I'm not dreaming," She said confusedly, her voice barely audible and sounding horse and strained, "but you can't be real…I couldn't get you out; I failed you…you needed me and I failed you…" her face took on a pained expression and tears formed in her eyes.

In the dunes with Uusoae and while being taken into the darkness by _Discord_ and then again when she escaped and found her way to the gate, Lynn had used all her strength to keep going, and she just didn't have any left, even after that short escape from reality while she dreamt.

She was _tired_ of trying to show a strong face when her subconscious told her she was a weak mortal trying to meddle in the affairs of the Gods. Gainel deserved better than her, and she let it out not having the strength to do otherwise.

"I couldn't do _anything_!" she stated, almost pleading with him, "I was just inches away and I couldn't do a thing! I can't stand up to anything! I'm worthless, less than nothing—!"

Gainel couldn't take Lynn talking of herself in such a fashion. Before he knew it, he was crouching by her side and flinging his arms around her in a tight embrace, his own eyes stinging as well, as he contradicted her forcefully saying, "No, _no! _You're everything, _everything_ to me!"

The shadow disappeared from his eyes and they were once again swirling pools of color, crimson and gold with bubbles of violet and black, they seemed even more vibrant than usual, everything about him seemed more a live and she knew he wasn't hiding or holding anything back.

Lynn's silent tears turned to heart-wrenching sobs and she cried on his shoulder as she embraced him back, even tighter than he had her. She didn't know why he would care for her, but right now she didn't care, she just wanted to hold him…

"_Rikash said but—I was so scared that you—please say you love me!_" She managed to splutter between sobs, her back jolting as she tried to suck in air enough to continue.

"I love you, forever," he promised, his heart beating almost dangerously fast, all he could hear as the blood pounded in his ears. Without thinking, he kissed her on the cheek once, then again, and the third time her lips were there to meet his. There was a feeling like lightening through his spine, as he smoothed her hair, she grabbed him by the shoulders. The next kiss was deeper and the physical tension was getting to him and he began fumbling at her shirt, but she didn't seem to mind, his coat was already half-unbuttoned by her quick hands.

They were in the middle of another kiss when she broke it off saying, "Wait, wait, wait!" her breath coming out as a frosty puff.

"What?" he asked slightly irritated, gasping for lack of air, the pause making him want to scream from the pressure.

"For one thing, I don't have a pregnancy charm. Aren't gods awfully…er, potent? It only took one time for my Grandma Sarra to have my Ma—" she reminded him, red with embarrassment at what she was saying. It had taken all she'd had to interrupt; her body had emotion on its side, as opposed to her brain, which only had reason. In fact, her body and mind were still so exhausted that she didn't know how either of them were managing to function at all.

"Well, I ahh—," Gainel stuttered unintelligibly. He really hadn't been thinking at all; she was right.

"And look where we are, we should focus on getting out of Chaos first." She said rationally, but he could see that stopping before they'd even begun was tearing at her as much as it was he.

_Damn it, she's absolutely right,_ he thought slightly ashamed for not thinking of it himself. Gainel was the god after all; he was supposed to be responsible for her safety, which included getting her and him out of chaos before they did _anything_ else. He needed to be thinking with his head and not his, er…male-specific organs.

He took a deep breath to clear his head, than gave her a smile and a nod, and she beamed up at him, bringing warmth to his heart. Oh, he thought he would do anything to keep that happy expression from fading away.

Now that the passion had worn off a bit, there were so many questions to ask her, so much to speak about but they could wait. Instead, he took a look at where they had been about to make love. If he were one to blush, he might have at that, but luckily for him he had enough control of himself now that he could keep it from showing on his face.

It was a circle of ground domed with some sort of miasma of shadow, and in the center, was the Gate. He frowned at its entwined copper and iron rods gleaming from the light of twin lamps to either side of it. Fluttering around the lamps were giant, moon-white moths. Why wasn't anyone there guarding the gate? he wondered.

He hadn't realized he'd spoken his thoughts aloud until Lynn answered by saying, "_Discord _was taking me to the gate, but I got away," then she sighed with chagrin, "only to end up here _anyways_…it wasn't that far though, she should be here by now really…"

Lynn got away from _Discord?_ Not only was he extremely impressed, he was very proud of her. _That_ was his Lynn; she wouldn't let anything get in her way, not even a Goddess.

"Oh, really? So you escaped, did you?" he said with false skepticism, his black eyebrows up quizzically, prompting her to tell him more, but Lynn lifted an eyebrow of her own.

"Are you _teasing_ me?" she drawled, looking at him through lowered eyelids.

_Was_ he teasing her? "…Maybe." He said cryptically, and she rolled her eyes but he saw a smile on her face as she did so, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, if _that's_ the case, I think I'll just keep _that_ little bit of information to myself; just to spite you." She said smugly, as he felt his expression turn to something akin to shock.

"Please? You have to give me _something_." He pleaded, "That is just too cruel, after we had to-to—" he stammered and her face took on a malicious grin at his discomfort.

"After we had to _what?_" she asked innocently as he frowned at the enjoyment she was getting out of this. Not that he wanted to deny her enjoyment, but did she have to take it at his expense?

"After, er- _you_ know…" Gainel alluded, trying to work around having to say what he had been thinking. Vaguely he felt the presence of someone coming near, but it turned away a moment later and Gainel forgot about it just as quickly.

"Really? I don't think that I do, why don't you remind me?" Gainel's cheek was twitching, and he had one eyebrow lowered in irritation as Lynn burst out laughing. It pleased him that she wasn't afraid to laugh at him, despite the fact he was one of the Great Gods, but that didn't make it any more bearable.

"Is my discomfort really that amusing?" he wondered aloud, "I'm not used to this sort of situation."

She stopped laughing, looking sheepish and said "Sorry…"

"It's alright." He told her.

"I'll tell you what happened later; shouldn't we be trying to find a way to leave?" she asked him.

"Actually, there isn't any way for us to leave on our own."

She looked at him blankly and said, "You're joking, right?"

He wished he could say _yes_, but that would have been a lie. "Unfortunately…no, no I'm not." He told her and winced as she shot up from her place on the ground, stomping over with a scowl.

"You mean to say, that you came harrowing off after me when you _knew_ that there wasn't a way to get back!" since the obvious answer was 'yes', she didn't wait for him to give it, but forged on ahead ignoring his attempts to interrupt her, and lectured him on the responsibilities of his position (of which knew quite well, thank-you-very-much), and how he couldn't be putting himself at risk over her expense, and finishing it off with a soliloquy on the faults of the male species, be they God or Mortal.

"I don't see what is _wrong_ with you people! Men _never_ have plans for anything! They just rush in and hope everything turns out all right! And then _women_ have to bail them out!" she expounded, pacing in the small space that wasn't taken up by gate, lamps, or strange clouds of darkness.

He didn't bother to disillusion her, scolding him seemed to be helping her relax, but by now she was shivering again, and the symptoms of exhaustion were showing themselves.

For her own part, Lynn just wanted to go back to sleep, but that was impossible, her heart was still beating too fast, and her mind had decided it was fully awake; she couldn't see herself falling asleep again. She didn't even know how she'd managed to in the first place. She was in _Chaos_. Anything could jump out at them at any time.

Realizing this, her eyes widened and she frantically searched the area with her eyes and other senses, only to find nothing. _Obviously, Gainel would have noticed if someone were here,_ she realized.

Gainel stood up; his clothes somehow miraculously still black, crisp and clean. She scowled; it wasn't fair that gods had so many useful powers, like somehow keeping their clothes tidy through anything. She was also self-conscious of the state of her own clothes: they been through transformations, phasing, dunes and a busted knee and they _looked_ like it, too. He walked over and took her hands in his, rubbing them together to warm her up; she thought she might swoon.

"You're cold, and tired." He declared, shaking his head, as if this were unacceptable. Until that point she hadn't known that she was shivering, and her muscles not stiff just from her unfortunate decision to sleep on the ground, but from the cold thickening her blood.

Gainel gave her hands one last rub then let them down and started unbuttoning his coat. She wondered at how they had come to be buttoned again after their shuffle, she knew for certain that she'd had that coat nearly off before they'd stopped. For some reason, Gainel was grinning and shaking his head, as she frowned at the buttons.

_I'd have had that coat ALL the way off, if it weren't for those infernal buttons…_she complained silently.

He took the coat off and she tried not to stare at his bare chest, as he placed the coat over her shoulders. Lynn immediately started to feel warmer, and her energy was being restored at an unnatural rate. In fact she could almost half convince herself that she felt _almost_ half normal.

"Mithros and The Goddess get magic shields and spears, and you have a magic, healing, _coat_…" she said dryly and Gainel smirked at her silly statement. "That's just said, seriously, how is that fair?"

"Yes, well the Balance has a lot of things to answer for," he said.

"Like sticking you with a coat? Not that I don't like the coat—!" she stammered hastily.

"That, among other things." Gainel said, the whole situation involving Lynn at the forefront of his mind, "I like the coat, also." He added as an afterthought.

"Yes, it's a nice coat and it heals; I mean who _thought_ of that? Whatever, it doesn't matter; a coat is a coat." she supposed, then mumbled under her breath, "Although I like the coat better _off_ you than _on_ you…"

Gainel covered his smile with his hand, trying not to let on that he'd heard her. He supposed he was fairly high-up there in the looks category, even as gods went; it hadn't really mattered to him before, but right now he was feeling rather smug about it.

"That reminds me, how _did_ you escape from that…whatever it was." She asked him curious.

"Oh, I don't know…" he said, teasingly, until she gave him a significant look, " 'tis a tale for another time, it's only fair, you wouldn't tell me how _you_ got out, after all."

Lynn sighed slightly, resigned. "Well than, have you any clue how we are supposed to get out of here?"

They'd gotten off topic somehow. How did they always get off topic when she was trying to discuss something serious with him? Lynn didn't know, but she couldn't help being unsurprised at the fact.

"Actually…yes, yes I do." He answered, "However, it is rather circumstantial…"

"Circumstantial…that doesn't sound good, but let's hear it, I suppose." She said sounding awfully world-weary in a way that Gainel found amusing; it was comical how she dictated orders to him, despite the fact that she was the mortal and he the God.

"When the other Gods attack Uusoae, they will let us through the barrier."

"Well, when is _that_ going to happen?"

"I can't be entirely sure, but I sent Apfel to convince them not _too_ long ago, but they'll likely debate about it, until someone realizes there's actually a problem. They'll debate some more until such time as an event happens that makes up their minds for them and _then_ they'll come." He said nodding sharply.

"Hmm, doesn't sound too different from the House of Nobles and House of Commoners back home: Debate for days and _still_ nothing gets done." Lynn commented then realized what she was saying, "We're doomed!"

"I wouldn't say that." Gainel told her calmly.

"Well, what _would_ you say?"

"I would say tha—" he began then blinked and tuned his head sharply to the left just as Lynn felt it too.

Someone was coming. Two someone's in fact.

"_Discord _and_ Violence_." Gainel said troubled, and confirming Lynn's guess, "That was _Discord_ I felt earlier, she must have noticed me and gathered _Violence_ to help her attack us."

_Oh, no,_ she thought, wondering if Gainel could take on two Gods at once, if it came to a battle. _And likely Uusoae will step-in if it seems Gainel will win,_ she realized.

Gainel also knew this. And he had no delusions about his own power; he could easily defeat either _Discord_ or _Violence_ even on their own turf. However with them together, his chances plummeted, and even if by some miracle he managed to secure a victory while simultaneously trying to keep Lynn out of their hands, Uusoae could easily overpower him.

The only optimistic aspect of this situation was that it was exactly the sort of thing that that could convince the Great Gods to intervene.

"Should we run?" Lynn asked worriedly; she understood the danger of their condition as well as he.

Gainel shook his head, "They'll only follow us, and I've never been here before, I don't know where I'm going."

"Oh." Was all she said, and Gainel wanted to comfort her, but he wasn't sure what he could say that wouldn't be an outright lie.

Lynn, pulled Gainel's coat from her shoulders; the pinched, exhausted look she'd had before was gone, although it was now replaced with worry. "Here, I'm better now and you'll probably need it more; you'll be doing all the fighting, I'm no good against a God."

He accepted his coat from her and put one arm in the sleeve saying, "You're too hard on yourself. You do better than most."

"I suppose," Lynn said but she didn't sound convinced, "I'm fairly useless, really." She confessed, her face hidden in shame.

The look of contempt she wore for her supposed 'weakness' pained Gainel even the more so because he knew for a fact she was strong; and not just strong in power but in heart and in mind. Something even some Gods couldn't measure up to.

"Look at me." He said forcefully, and she pulled her head up to look into his eyes, "You are _not_ weak, and you are _not _useless."

"But I can't do—," she argued but he interrupted her.

"_Say it._" he told.

Gainel didn't know why she couldn't see how courageous she was; or perhaps she was confusing strength with physical or magical power and ability, a mistake often made by those with a drive for perfection. She didn't know how sometimes, the one could take you farther than any magic spell or show of muscle.

"I-I'm not weak, and I'm not useless." She repeated after a moment of stubborn defiance, and he nodded satisfied, and kissed her on the cheek, taking her by surprise.

"Now," he instructed hastily, as his senses told him the gods were but yards away, despite their being hidden by the wall of Darkness, "I have faith in you. Stay safe whilst I am in combat with the gatekeepers. If something ever happened to you I…," he shook his head in trying to shake away the thought.

"And if you get hurt, God or not I'll find a way to kill you." She told him almost seriously, bringing an amused smile to his face.

"I shall do my best, fair Lady." He quipped, yet his tone was said otherwise.

Lynn sighed in false disappointment; "I suppose that is all a Lady can ask of a man…or a God." She said as an afterthought, as two figures stepped from the shadows.

_One part of Providence's plan had finally been realized, but new worries were already creeping along the horizon and the being hoped the pair might yet be spared from these troubles, but it seemed they would not abate, as a danger drew near. The scales of The Eternal Balance swung fitfully, and it was impossible to say what the outcome of the future would be…_


	21. Part III: Living Fire

It's late at Night so I'll make this short: I don't own Tortall or anything related to it. 

Before we start I'd like to say three things:

1.THANK YOU FOR THE +90 REVIEWS!

2.THANKS FOR HANGIN' IN THERE!

And…

3.SORRY FOR BEING LATE AND FOR ALL THE LIKELY SPELLING MISTAKES IN THIS CHAPTER! I wanted to bust it out quick for you guys so I'll go over it later and do a repost.

**Responses! **

**Feifiefofum/Feefaifoefum **Why the heck do you need to Id's? Whatev, here yah go. I sent you a heads-up email so there ain't much to say, enjoy! And thanks for being so enthusiastic about my story. Savor this; I don't want you going through any more withdrawals. They are more dangerous than you think. Believe it. Review again!

**MageQueen**Yay a new reviewer! Glad you like my story. Next time, slap out an email and I'll give you a response right away. I saw all your reviews but I couldn't really say anything in response to them. Toss me your email address and I'll send you a personal response like I did with Fei up there. Hope you enjoy and I look forward to more reviews to come!

**Ace Ryn Knight,** Yeah I really try to stay away from Mary Sue-ness. Sometimes their good for a laugh or the plot's good enough you can pass over it, but for the most part they really annoy me. And you thought it felt like you were reading a real book? Awesome! Thanks for the compliment, that's always what I'm shooting for! And I'm glad you like my attempts at humor. I know I laugh but it's also true I laugh at almost anything. You know what I mean, I've said it before. Thanks for reviewing and being a steady reviewer form the very beginning! Here yah go! 

**Allisarte **cookie yay! I think this will have errors. I wanted to get it out but I'll go over it later and do a repost. Enjoy!

**Numair's Lover** yup double! I was going to do a double post this time too, but I wanted to get this out so you at least had something. Seriously, Discord and Violence show up at the worst times. They are Fluff-killers and should be punished. Hope you like it! Read and Review!

**Ivory Nightshade** ha ha. Oh just so everyone knows, I don't endorse premarital sex, but it's different in literature, because at this time period/universe it isn't considered wrong or immoral. Just so you know. And if you do have sex before your married, use protection, like Ivory said.

**Nativewildmage** Aww, man sorry to make you guys wait. It got left on my other computer while we were doing remodeling and the computer got unhooked. But I said screw and decided to retype it. So be happy everyone. Thanks for reviewing Nwm! Review again, happy reading! Thank you all! 

Oh yeah. And Looking into a Beta reader, now that I have email. 'Course I've never had one. From what I understand they proofread your stuff. If you have info or think your up to the job send me an email and/or review and we'll see how things go!

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Part III: Living Fire**

Lynn instinctively stepped back towards the gate as _Discord's_ gaze burned a zealous gold. She oozed from the dark miasma, wafts of darkness clinging to her person, and undistinguishable from her formfitting, flowing black dress.

"_You_." She accused, and Lynn's senses witnessed as the Goddess's mind lashed out at her. Lynn automatically flinched and braced herself, hoping that her feeble attempt at a mind-shield would be enough, though in truth she knew she hadn't a chance.

There was a booming crackle, flash of light and gust of wind. Lynn's eyes slammed shut and she flung up her hands to block the light but it seemed to stream through her fingers, through her eyelids. Her senses blurred as her ears popped from pressure, and her eyes itched and watered. She was nearly knocked back from the rushing air.

A white-sheathed, black shaft of lightening enveloped the Goddess of Discord's mental attack. A blood-curdling shriek, both physical and mental ripped through Lynn's brain as the light and pressure died to reveal Gainel standing directly in front of her. His black clothes and hair seeming deeper than ever with a hard, glowing white edge. She could see the super heated air around him, stretched and rippled like water. She didn't try to touch him.

As it was, she only came up to a little past Gainel's shoulder, and he easily blocked her from view. Lynn managed to peak around him and saw _Discord_ lying half-hazard on the ground, her eyes bleary and dazed as white smoke rose from her body as if it had been scorched although she looked as if untouched.

"**_That was for kidnapping and attacking Lynn, you bitch."_** He said, his voice like a thunderclap. This was what Lynn had seen those many years ago, this was Gainel the Great God. Lynn blinked, and nearly missed a bolt of white-sheathed black static as it traced itself across her inert form. "Is she…"

Lynn began but the slight shake for Gainel's head told her that the Goddess of Discord was not deceased. "**_No, I cannot break the laws of Mother Flame and Father Universe. She is not dead, but it will be a very long time until she is recovered: weeks, possibly months or years. She was foolish to strike alone—,"_** Gainel said.

He was not strong enough to break the Laws of his Mother and Father. But only Gainel knew how close he had managed to bend the rule. He had nearly managed to destroy her mind, even if her body was mostly intact. One could not live without the other, and gods did live, even if it was a strange existence, with little change or growth.

But he had changed, and he felt that he had grown, this felt like a new existence; he wouldn't be letting anyone down. He glanced at _Discord's_ motionless body.

Well, he might be letting _Discord_ down. But Gainel thought he could live with it.

"_It's funny how we get the things we want the most…"_ A voice like the spattering of blood oozed, _"At the most inopportune time. Wouldn't you say Gainel?" _

Taking her eyes from _Discord's_ smoldering body, Gainel's gaze fell on a heavily muscled man covered in scars; his clothing was layer upon layer of bloodstained tatters. The only attire in somewhat decent shape was a worn leather strap around his right leg that housed an ivory, gold inlayed, long bladed dagger in its sheath.

Painfully short-cropped auburn hair was little more than stubble that continued down his chin turning into a five o'clock shadow. Half his teeth were cracked, chipped, or missing entirely as he flashed a maniacal grin that seemed plastered to his face, and his eyes flashed red-irised, wide and bloodshot.

"_I've been hoping that Discord would screw up enough that I'd receive authority over her, but she just had to do it now, and leave me alone to face **you, **I'm a little worried." _He chuckled derisively. Despite his claims of anxiety, _Violence _looked nothing of the kind, his fanatic grin hadn't changed and his hands looked like they were itching to whip out his dagger.

Gainel narrowed his eyes at the brawler and snuffed, **_"You should be worried, you've caused too much trouble to gain any pity from me at this point. And just as a warning, I wouldn't try controlling Lynn again, if I were you."_**

_Violence _cackled, _"Pity? What do I need pity for?"_ _Violence_ sneered, his tone slick and oily, and pulled his dagger from its sheath. The Blade was shaped like a tongue of forked flame, and burned white, orange, red as if pulled straight from a forge. It looked like a true piece of flame.

Gainel recognized that blaze.

"**_How did you get that?"_ **He demanded. That was a piece of the Living Fire; it must have been stolen from the heart of the Mother Flame herself, she would _never_ give such a thing away. When, he couldn't guess, but the truth of the matter was that it was there, before very his eyes in the possession of _Violence_. It would explain some things.

"None of your business. It's good to see you know what it is, though. Most of the other Gods wouldn't realize, Did you know you're the only one who ever visits that old goddess? You're her favorite you know." Violence chuckled.

Uusoae had the roads to The Mother's hearth watched. That was the only way _Violence_ would know such a thing. Not even one of Uusoae's clever Sendings or Constructs like _Envy,_ or _Greed_ could have snatched a piece of the Living Fire while the Ancient Goddess was tending it. They must have managed to steel it while she was away.

But the Goddess was almost never away from her hearth. The last time had been…

"**_The trial,"_** He realized, **_"When Mother Flame and Father Universe condemned Uusoae to Chaos, after the Immortal's War, or so it is called in the Living Realms. That was when you struck. And that is how Uusoae is still managing to wreak havoc. You cut her free."_**

"_I didn't cut her free,"_ _Violence_ said almost defensively, _"Slavery did. She's the only one stupid enough to do it. If it had been my choice, I'd have kept the knife and ruled chaos myself, thank you very much. But Slavery had stolen the knife, and the first thing she did was cut My Mistress free. And here we are today, Any Questions?" _

Gainel snuffed again, **_"You just don't want to be held responsible for freeing Uusoae, or for you're lawless actions in the coming trial, and there will be a trial, you can be sure of that."_**

"_I'm no Discord to spread deception, it's all quite true. But Yes, I really am covering my own skin here just in case this all turns bad. However,"__Violence _held the knife up to his face and the tongue of flame cast long shadows across his face. His eyes burned crimson in the shadowy crevasses of his features. "_With this, I don't think I have anything to worry about."_

The blade rippled like the flame it resembled then shot out in a rush of heat. Gainel had just enough time to grab Lynn and roll to safety before the flame erupted in a great pyre, stopping just before it hit the Chaos gate, then dissipating into sparks and embers.

"_That's right Gainel, keep her safe, we still need her to gain our freedom."__Violence _said, his expression even more insane, if possible, _"I doubt I'll be thinking of her safety before much longer, I really do go **berserk,** you might say."_ He cackled as his eyes pupils shrunk to pinpricks and the whites could be seen all around his eyes.

The Gate of Chaos began to shake and vibrate as a Metallic ring cut into the air in pulses. _Violence_'s aura pulsed in synchronization, as did _Discord's_ body.

He was gaining power from the presence of the Gate, and his fellow gatekeeper. What a time for a power boost, Gainel thought, as if a Dagger made of the Living Fire of Mother Flame wasn't hard enough to combat. But then again, the presence of the dagger might be used to his _own_ advantage…

The Flames of the Living Fire had the characteristics of Mother Flame: it could be used to break any of the rules set by Mother Flame or Father Universe, and contained the elements of Fire, Purity, Death and Creation. Mother Flame and Father Universe were the Parents of the Great Gods, she had brought Gainel into existence, and he was thinking the dagger might see this in him, and be less likely to harm him. But then again, it might also seek him out, because of that attraction, it might try to strike him.

Either way, he thanked The Balance that _Violence_ wasn't much of a Mental-fighter. Gainel didn't know how he was going to manage to fight him _and_ shield Lynn from all the energy that was going to be shot around. He also thanked his lucky-stars _Discord _had decided to go Rogue right at the beginning, Gainel hadn't really incorporated that dagger into his calculations and he knew for a fact he would have lost if _Discord_ were well enough to fight right now.

Gainel hastily slapped a shield on Lynn to keep most of the energy from affecting her. When he'd leapt away, he'd nearly dropped her and he couldn't be carting her around if he wanted either of them to survive this. With that dagger, _Violence_ really could kill him. Now that he thought of it, Gainel figured was likely Uusoae's purpose in giving the dagger to _Violence_. Gainel wasn't on the top of Uusoae's Buddy-list right now.

"**_Stay here."_** He said, and set Lynn down, she nodded looking worried for him, but in her eyes burned her own fire. It told him she knew he would win.

If Gainel had anything to say about it, she'd be right.

"_Hopefully, I don't forget myself and burn her up!"_ _Violence _screamed wearing his crazy expression, before rushing him.

_Violence, _due to Gainel's previous ceasefire deal with Uusoae, had never faced Gainel before, and hadn't particularly known what to expect. Sure, he was a 'Great God' and all, but _Violence_ had fought many a Great God, and at the level he was right now, with both the power of the Gate, _Discord_, and the Dagger enhancing his power, one would be an even match at best for him, and he'd probably even overpower them.

But Gianel didn't fight. God's didn't get rusty, and most of their abilities were inborn, which lead most of the young Gods to believe that Gainel couldn't fight at all. Of course _Violence_ wasn't a young God, even if he wasn't one of the First.

He didn't consider himself the thinking type, because he wasn't, in fact, when he was fighting he hardly gave a thought to anything at all except how to utterly deal out as much pain as possible to his opponent while receiving the least amount himself.

But this did leave him to wonder what Gainel might do in return. The Gods all had their strengths and weaknesses. Mithros had strength, and he always went on the offensive taking an enemy down in a single stroke. The Great Mother Goddess had resilience and was usually on the defensive, to wear out an opponent. The Black God had stealth, striking when least expected. Apfel had charm, often managing to create distractions that led to her victory. Kyprioth had tact, using weaknesses to his advantage. What did Gainel have? What faculty did the third child of the Ancient Gods wield? He was about to find out.

_Violence_ crashed up to Gainel, dagger in hand with every intension of using it to slice as many wounds his body could managed before it was only so many mangled bits. He felt a brush on his mental shields but only that, it was probably a probe. Gainel didn't attack, only stood his ground as _Violence_ made a mad slash at the Great God's neck; a killing stroke.

A killing stroke that never hit.

Gainel's eyes, so often covered in shadow it was almost strange to see them clear for all and any to see, flashed to white, silver, blue and black swirls of color as he shifted around the blazing dagger, quick as lightning, his body a black shaft of electricity outlined in white.

The Dream King dodged the dagger like it was coming at him in slow motion, and his left hand shot up, slamming the lesser god in jaw with his palm, then with same arm, jamming his elbow into the God of Violence's joint as he made another mad jaw blow with the palm of his hand then grabbing at _Violence's_ face with his right hand, and scratched down like the claws of a great cat, before leaping out reach of the dagger to lash out with powerful mental attack.

_Violence_ had shrieked at the scratches left on his face, they weren't ordinary wounds; they'd been seared like Gainel's hands were rods of hot iron. Luckily, he had masterfully strong shields, or the Dream King would have had him. _Discord _was a weak shielder, but a strong mental striker; he was her opposite, strong at shielding, weak on the mental attack. _Violence_ rode out the mental barrage, before casting the dagger in a horizontal slash that sent a heat wave that sped out from the dagger's flaming blade on a straight course for the Great God.

He didn't wait for _Violence's_ slash to hit him; it was a fast attack, the God of Violence had made sure of that. Gainel ducked the heat wave as it broke on the dome surrounding the area that housed the Chaos Gate, and the miasma of black fog swallowed it whole.

This time _Violence_ was ready for the attack, the heat wave had only been meant to slow him down and give _Violence_ a chance to prepare. He slashed, but Gainel snaked out of the way, using a swung right arm to give him the momentum he needed to dodge far enough to _Violence's_ right, then changing the arms direction to chop at the Gatekeeper's neck.

_Violence _hadn't planned on Gainel dodging, let alone turning his dodge into a means of attack. But when the chop knocked him to the ground, he reflexively slashed and kicked madly with hand, feet and dagger. He would have taken off the Great God's leg, if he hadn't leapt away to send another mental barrage. _Violence _winced as he held off the attack; he needed to be wearier of those in the future, they weren't weak, by any means.

It seamed _Violence_ had found was Gainel's main strength was: speed, maneuverability, unpredictability, and adaptability. Not to mention a strong mental attack and superb martial skills. But then again, as fast as he was, it would matter if he left himself wide open, the dodging factor let him get away unscathed every time. _Violence_ hadn't landed a blow yet, Gainel had landed several, albeit not overly powerful attacks, they had _really_ hurt though, even if they weren't overly damaging. Lightning jolts and a burning touch would do that.

Lightning, was an element of chaos.

Well, at least that explained why Gainel was still on an even footing with him, _Violence_ really should have realized earlier. Gainel wasn't just any Great God; he was the Dreamer that straddled Chaos and the Divine realms. He wasn't disadvantaged here, because Gainel was born of chaos, just as he was.

But he still wasn't any match for the Dagger of the Living Fire.

_Violence _used some of his energy to heal his wounds as The God of Dreams continued to pound on his mental shields. Eventually he'd break through, but _Violence_ would have beaten him by that time. The gatekeeper could always heal himself, until he grew tired and ran out of energy, but a wound dealt by the Dagger of the living flame, was permanent.

All he needed was one disabling blow and it wouldn't matter that he was a God; he'd go down like a mortal, like an animal, even.

Gainel knew it, too. That elbow in the joint earlier had been meant to make him release the dagger, but _Violence_ hadn't dropped it. Gainel was fast, but speed didn't count for much if you couldn't hit someone hard enough to take them out; eventually you wore out and your opponent would have his turn.

And _Violence_ would have his turn to dole out the pain.

The Gatekeeper, just managed to throw up a magic shield to block the lightening strike the lashed out from Gainel's hand. The shock of the energy temporarily blinded his magical senses, and from out of nowhere, something latched around his throat then flung him with tremendous force into the Chaos Gate where he went numb and collapsed hard on the ground.

Lynn hadn't protested when Gainel had erected upon her, a shield identical to the one placed on Lynn when _Equitus_, Herald of the Gods, had lead them through the divine realms into the Court of the Gods.

She was glad she hadn't. Darkness enveloped every feature and the ground was gone, faded into a flat facsimile that put to her mind the dark miasma she had trudged through not even hours ago. But she could still see.

Gainel and _Violence_ shown like twin suns, aura's clashing as their bodies did battle. Gainel was so fast; she could never match that speed. He dodged every attack, landed every one of his own, and generally stayed one step ahead of _Violence_ at all times, but even with all of that, _Violence_ wasn't slowing down, he didn't seem fazed in the least.

Strangely she could also see _Discord_ lying not far away. She could here her too, muttering curses in a husky voice, but her eyes were still glazed over. Gainel had struck her mind, rendering it useless for the time being; she couldn't move, probably couldn't even think properly.

Lynn drew her gaze back to the fight, and flinched as Gainel loosed a lightning bolt that was blocked by _Violence's_ shield. With his other hand, Gainel spread his fingers flung them wide, leaving a glowing trail that turned into a five-tailed whip of lightning. Hand on the handgrip, the five-tails lashed around the Gatekeepers neck and flung him into the Gate, which rattled, sending another bought of Ringing that penetrated the brain.

_Violence_ was still for a moment then leapt forward, healing the many broken bones in his spine, then grabbed the tails of the whip, paying no head to his burning hands, he pulled trying rip it out of Gainel hands, but a surge of magic passed along the whip, electrocuting the Gatekeeper.

He brought the flaming dagger down upon the whip, cutting it, and the five-tailed whip disappeared as the energy dissipated. _Violence _rushed Gainel again, but this time Gainel couldn't get away quick enough, He dodged, but _Violence_ kept slashing. Gainel was fast, but that dagger…it seemed like it sought him.

The forked dagger let loose a gush of flames that nearly singed the Dream King, the embers not even inches away. But the dagger was there to meet him as he evaded the flames, and it struck him in his right eye, leaving a long, bleeding slice down his brow and cheek.

"Gainel!"

Lynn didn't think, she just jumped up assist her Patron and Love, but was immediately sent sprawling on the ground as something grabbed her foot. She turned and saw _Discord's _hand around her ankle, her eyes still in a daze.

"_Don't, it is The Eternal Balance, The Time of Chaos will come, it is only fair that we have our own chance. It is only fair,"_ she said, her voice void of all emotion.

Lynn kicked herself free and stumbled to her feet. _Discord_ abruptly collapsed back on the ground, motionless.

Crossing the ground in seconds, she pulled back her fist to punch him in the head, but before she could react, _Violence_ turned to stare her right in the eye, his expression fanatical, and brought the dagger up to strike.

She couldn't do anything, she couldn't react fast enough to dodge, and even if she could, Lynn couldn't match the speed of a God.

Simultaneously, Gainel's hand shot out to grasp _Violence's_ wrist, and a dark presence blasted through her mind.

**I GAVE YOU THE DAGGER, VIOLENCE, BECAUSE YOU PROMISED YOU'D TAKE MORE CARE THEN DISCORD WITH THE GIRL. IT SEEMS ONCE AGAIN, YOU TWO DISAPPOINT ME.**

_The Balance was helpless to act as the forces of the elements, destiny and fate, clashed with the factor of choice. What was to come was unknowable, even by Providence, the holder of the Celestial Scales and the hand of The Balance in the Realms. A choice was made, how many more would be made before the climax of the age? None could know the truth… _


	22. Part III: Instability

**I don't own Tammy's stuff. I never said I did. You never thought I did. Everything's great. Happy day.**

**THANKS EVERYONE FOR +100 REVIEWS! WOO HOO!**

**AND AS OF LAST CHAPTER, MY CHAPTERS SELECTION HAS A SCROLL BAR! For some reason that's just a big deal for me. I think it's cool.**

**_Hey guys, I needa beta reader, if you think your up for the job, drop me an email at I'm serious. No joke. I really need one._**

**Reviews!**

**Noc and NC **Woo hoo! A new reviewer! And you posted the 100th review! And then some! Awesomeness! Anyways, Thanks about the comment on my fight scenes, I wasn't sure how good they were and hoped they weren't confusing. I must say I do need to go over that chapter but I'm too lazy. It doesn't have the usual polish. I don't know if you guys could tell but I could. I wanted to get it out to you all. I'm glad you think its like reading one of Tammy's books, that's what I'm aiming for after all!

I like how you tell me your favorite parts; that's the sort of thing I like to hear! Keep it up please! Review again!

**Silveni **eh? Dreams are Freaky? Why? You read it all in one sitting, I'm glad I could hold your attention, that's an awesome compliment. I'm glad I could make the Blah Gods seem more real. You'll see a new god in this chappy. And you say I'm awesome? Yes! My ego soars into the atmosphere, I dunno if that's a good thing, But I'm sure lovin' it. Here another chapter, hope you like, yes? Review please!

**Magequeen **Ruling and rocking, not words I usually describe myself with, but I like it! I swear you all have a conspiracy. Your all planning to build me up then one random chapter you totally flame me and rip me from my thrown to leave me sulking…alone…

But Either way I get reviews. Review again please! It will make me happy.

**Numair's** Lover Rockin', that's me! Yes, I know how we all hate cliffy's but they make easy ways to end chapters; and we all know how lazy I am to think of some other, slightly less irritating way, so…yeah.

What! No bed time snacks? I might die! Seriously! I'm not about to do listen to that, but here you go, so don't hate me. Read and review please, while I eat cupcakes.

**Feifiefofum **You'll like Provy's lines today, he actually gets a couple paragraphs. And yes, I know I need a Flippin' Beta reader, I'm in the Market, as it were. Young lady? Ergg. My mom doesn't call me Young Lady, she just calls me by my name, not even my full name. But she has a horrible shriek; I want to cry every time I hear it.

Anyways, thanks for the reviews, fei-man. Glad those Withdrawal symptoms are recovering. Take care of yourself now, and here you go.

**Nativewildmage **I keep meaning to send you a review on** The Second Generation: Squires: II **but I keep forgetting. I'm about half way through, and it's even better than the first one. I flippin' love Neal. You do him so well. He's awesome. Anyways, this is about your review, not mine so thanks for reviewing and review again! Glad you like it!

**Ace Ryn Knight **No dry spell this time! I'm only barely managing to update within a week though. But I did make it! Yup, Gainel kicks butt; he is a Great God after all. Yes! You think I build up suspense well?Thank you. I try and apparently I succeed! Yes! Thanks for reviewing!

**Ivory Nightshade **Don't die please! Here is a chappy! And a portable IV unit to sustain you! Of course I haven't the faintest idea how it works so you'll have to figure it out. Maybe a pie would have been better. Any-who, here you go!

**Thanks for reviewing guys! Read, enjoy, and review! **

**Providence Smiles **

By LGR

**Part III: Instability**

**I GAVE YOU THE DAGGER, VIOLENCE, BECAUSE YOU PROMISED YOU'D TAKE MORE CARE THEN DISCORD WITH THE GIRL. IT SEEMS ONCE AGAIN, YOU TWO DISAPPOINT ME.**

Lynn was frozen in place by an unseen force not even an inch from the blazing point of _Violence's_ dagger.

But she wasn't the only one.

_Violence,_ too, was unmoving, his face for once not wearing a look of fanatic lunacy, but of stark panic. He'd nearly killed her, he'd thought after she'd seen how significant she was in a battle between true Gods, she wouldn't be altogether keen on interfering, so he wouldn't have a problem with thoughtless reactions. Apparently, _Discord_ hadn't been exaggerating when she'd warned him how quick the mortal was to jump to Gainel's defense, even in combat, it seemed.

Of course, that warning wasn't helping him now. Nothing could help him now…

A woman's hand thrust itself from the black miasma, and a tumultuous wind gushed forth and the inky blackness dispersed like candle smoke. Lynn thought she'd be swept away, except that she was still somehow locked in place. That gaseous cloud, that she'd nearly become lost in not so very long ago, was impossibly sucked away to reveal the most astounding and terrifying sight she'd ever imagined.

The cold disappeared, and the air grew dry and then hot and muggy. There was that dune covered, thunder clouded horizon, but directly above them, the sky gave way and was devoured by a formless, shifting mass of grotesqueness.

The spell that had been holding her suddenly disappeared and she stumbled to find her balance. Lynn jammed her eyes shut and looked away as her stomach lurched and she whimpered slightly from the nausea. It was pure, elemental _Chaos_. Almost tangible waves of queasiness passed through her, as she inched her eyes open to catch a glimpse of how Gainel was fairing from _Chaos's_ proximity.

_Violence_ was still in his exact, previous position, holding the dagger out to slice at a now absent Lynn, but Gainel was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, before she could start to panic, a hand squeezed her shoulder and she caught the fringe of the Dream King's shock of sable hair from the corner of her right eye. Turning her head only slightly, she could almost pretend that a gruesome slice hadn't been made down the length of the right side of his face. _Luckily he can heal that,_ she thought with a wince as he shifted slightly when his face produced a frown and the slash came into view.

She turned to see what had drawn the scowl and saw a toweringly tall, thin woman with the boniest frame Lynn had ever seen. Her white-pail skin, seeming almost translucent, and flat steel-gray hair, eyes, and dress added to her washed-out, pallid look. Despite her hair-color, she wasn't particularly old looking, although she held herself, panting and sickly, like one near collapse.

"**_Who are you…"_** Gainel asked the Goddess, and she was definitely a Goddess, the soft glow from her skin and hair was testament to that, cautiously with more than a hint of confusion.

**I AM UUSOAE,** she said, her eyes dazed, but Gainel was already shaking his head.

"**_No," _**he replied**_, "You are not."_**

**_I AM UUSOAE_** , the words boomed in their minds, her voice harsh and breathless, and her chest heaved and her breath gurgled as it left her throat. She coughed and fell to her knees hacking violently.

There were moments when it sounded as if she would spit out a vital organ, and maybe she did, as finally a coagulating mass of goop landed on the sandblasted ground of the Chaos Gate circle. The goop jittered and struggled in almost a sentient fashion before breaking off into floating black and color swirled bubbles that lifted lazily into the air to coalesce into the mass of _Chaos_ in the sky, somewhere hundreds of feet above them.

Lynn looked over at Gainel, seeking some sort of an explanation from whatever his face might show. _Violence_ was still stuck in mid-slash, but what independent movement his face could manage held a look of pure shock.

The few gods that Lynn had met, (ironically enough considering she hadn't so much _met_ _Discord, Violence,_ and Uusoae, as they had tried to _kidnap_ her), had emotional expressions as much alike to human expressions as to make no difference whatever. But Gainel's were somewhat different. Lynn didn't know if it was unique to him, or unique to Great Gods, or something random, but whenever he had an expression, it would be a flash. A sort of blink, like he'd moved while standing still. They were as much part of his expression as a smile or a raised eyebrow.

The shape-shifter girl had never thought herself good with judging Gainel's feelings, and had admitted that to herself within a few hours of meeting him, but she thought she might be adapting, because she had a pretty good idea what that flicker, angled head, flicker then scowl meant: Confusion turned to realization, turned to anger.

"**_You are my kin, but you are _not_ Uusoae,"_** he told her.

"**_Not that you can change alliances at this point, Violence,"_** Gainel said, turning to stare into the eyes of the still motionless god of Violence, with his remaining eye, **_" But see, learn and remember, how Chaos reigns it's domain: With Betrayal, Madness and Destruction."_**

**He reached out and phased his hand through _Violence's_, to take the dagger from the other God's grip. Procuring the sheath that _Violence_ had used for the blade, Gainel slipped it inside, and then phased it within his coat, likely placing it in some unseen and little used pocket, but Lynn couldn't even see its outline in the fabric. Well, it was a magic coat, who said it only had one purpose? **

**_Violence_ gave him a glare that could have melted steel, but Gainel ignored it.**

Lynn wondered if, maybe, standing here in the middle of the realm of Chaos was not so bright an idea. But then again, what else could they do? They were trapped here. And besides, Gainel seemed to be keeping an eye on things, so she wouldn't get too worried yet; apparently they weren't in immediate danger any longer

"What is going on? Who is that, it isn't Uusoae, I saw her, that person is nothing like her but…that voice…and she has something of the feel…what is going on…" Lynn whispered up to Gainel, without taking her gaze from the wheezing, gray-haired goddess nearly collapsed prostrate on the grain-covered earth. Gainel looked as if he were about to answer when he was cut off by a strident mind-shout.

**I AM UUSOAE. WRETCHED GIRL, I—**

"**_Be silent!"_** Gainel hissed at the goddess, and she made a week cough and sunk to the ground shaking, tears rushing down her face.

"_I am Uusoae, I was Uusoae…" _she managed to say between cough, sniffles and gasps, her true voice strange after only hearing a mind-spoken one. It was deep for a woman, and husky but that might have been from her supposed illness.

"_That as may be, but it is no excuse for carrying on this way."_ He said, not without compassion, but still brooking no room for argument.

He was good like that recently, she'd noticed: she'd always thought he was too passive with other gods. He was a Great God, after all: he had the right. Her father had a complete study of Divine Legends and History (which she'd read, of course), so Lynn was as close to an expert as any mortal possibly could be. And though she knew she was terribly biased on Gainel's part, in obvious ways and for obvious reasons, from what she knew of the gods and their philosophies, he had way better judgment than any of them ever had.

Lynn automatically stood straight and sent a stern face to this Goddess. She didn't really think Gainel needed help in this matter, but Lynn didn't see the harm in adding a little extra intimidation to speed things along.

"Apfel had better come soon…" she heard Gainel mutter in an annoyed tone as he sent a worried eye to the great mass of Chaos still hovering in the sky. Bubbles of chaos were floating to join the sea above them from everywhere in sight. There were specks from far off and distinguishable blobs that were closer; they were everywhere, coming from everywhere.

She still hadn't gotten an answer she realized. She'd lost count how many times this sort of thing had happened.

"Apfel? Great Goddess of Love and Karma, Apfel?" Lynn inquired to see if she'd heard properly, while making a visual sweep of their surroundings. Finding nothing overtly interesting, she took to trying to avoid looking at the Gray-haired goddess while glaring intimidatingly at her simultaneously.

Needless to say it wasn't working overly much. Not only was she having trouble doing two contradictory things at once, but the gray-haired goddess was much to busy trying to keep her insides from forcing themselves from her mouth, from the sound of her heaving she was doing lying in that sand, writhing.

Upon this, she decided that glaring at the ill Goddess was a waste of effort and shifted her vigil to _Violence_, still caught in suspended animation. He had the grace to actually look a little frightened. Though that might have been of the Goddess struggling on the ground

"Yes," he said, and she nearly jumped; Lynn had almost forgotten she'd asked a question; she'd been occupied glaring at _Violence_. It seemed he was indeed put-off, not by Lynn, but by the wheezing goddess: if he'd notice the daggers Lynn was glaring at him, he'd have been searching for the stab wound. Not that he could do it properly, unable to move as he was.

"Why are you waiting for her?" she continued to prod.

"I sent her out for help, once I was freed." Gainel explained, "And that help must arrive presently if they're to do anything about the situation. It won't take much longer for _Chaos_ to finish gathering itself to proceed through the gate."

"So that's was it's doing," Lynn turned her face to the sky, and held up a hand to block the glare, but it was just as in that strange blackness _Discord_ had marched her through. The light seemed to come form nowhere at all, as if it were a sunny day, yet there was no sun to be seen, only a bloody red and orange sky, black thunderheads, and of course the bulging and shrinking mass of _chaos_. Her hands glowed into her eyes and the light was coming from her, making blocking her hand not only useless, but worse than doing otherwise.

"Yes, that is was it is doing," he said, not so much to her as just to be saying something. It was eerily quiet, except for a deep rumble that you could feel in your bones, coming from the convulsing sky of _Chaos_.

"_Kinsman, you must take me with you, we must leave or be destroyed. I have already been rent from my Greater-self…" _The gray-haired goddess petitioned, in a voice only slightly anxious, from her bed in the sand. She was still breathing fitfully, but she no longer looked in danger of spitting up her liver. Lynn still didn't know who she was, or where she'd come from.

"We will take you, but I make no Guarantee's on your treatment. You might be brought on trial." He warned her, turning to focus on her with his good eye. Lynn had seen him do this many times, even when both were usable; it meant that your response to what he had asked was a determining factor for his own judgment.

"_You are right. I am not Uusoae. So therefore,_" she paused to take a deep breath, as her words grew stronger, _"I cannot be put on trial."_

Gainel raised an eyebrow, "Changed your mind about _that_ fairly quickly…" He ddn't seem to like her in the least.

"_I wasn't thinking properly when I made that statement. I am a Goddess of Reason and Logic. It's the only thing that makes sense to say, considering it's true and I don't particularly want to be put on trial. I seem to remember it being rather unpleasant, although the details evade me for the moment… " _She told them, her voice almost icy. The goddess's condition seemed to be stabilizing, her breathing was normal now, and even though she was still white as a Ghost, her complexion was no longer translucent.

The Goddess carefully got up from her place on the ground, nearly falling over but managing to steady herself. She turned to regard them with a steely expression. Lynn looked at Gainel to see that he was decidedly uncomfortable seeming, as well as suspicious.

"A Goddess of Reason you say…" Gainel contemplated while staring off into the distance, "I hadn't realized Uusoae had so much order in her construction as to be able to break down into a stable orderly entity, should the element of Chaos be removed from her construction." He said to himself as Lynn listened avidly.

"_I remember that I was growing quite bothersome to her as of late,"_ the Goddess replied.

"Just asking, but do you have a name, by any chance?" Lynn queried, the Goddess seemed surprised she'd spoken and her pale glance nearly froze the shape shifter, as the Goddess seemed to study her skeptically.

"_Phinity,"_ she stated indifferently, and then seemed to ignore Lynn completely.

Lynn might have felt sullen at the Goddess's obvious disdain, except that Gainel narrowed his eye started muttering curses at her under his breathe, which made Lynn smile. He always seemed sulky when he was muttering; and for some reason Lynn found it hilarious.

There was a scraping sound as a large piece of the ground perhaps a few miles away was ripped out of the ground, small rocks, sand granules, and mounds of hardened soil falling with sharp cracks to the hardened ground or thudding into the sand. The great piece of land was sucked toward the sky where it crashed into _Chaos_ and was consumed. There was another loud crash in a different direction and they turned to see the same thing was transpiring there, some few miles away.

"_Should we not be contemplating a plan to escape, My Lord?"_ Phinity asked almost mockingly.

"Contemplate all you like," Gainel told her, his voice a little too even to be natural, even for him. He _really_ doesn't like Phinity, Lynn realized. Not that she liked the woman either so far.

Gainel seemed to turn and see _Violence _was still frozen there, for the first time. He blinked and flickered slightly before frowning. "What are you still doing there?"

_Violence_ gave him a look that plainly said:_ What! Don't YOU know? 'Cuz I sure as Chaos don't!_

"_He is being involuntarily restrained."_ Phinity ventured, her tone still holding little emotion.

"So it would seem…" Gainel drawled, his eye narrowed, frustrated with the Goddess.

"Isn't all restraining involuntary?" Lynn wondered. A smile tugged at Gainel's face as he shrugged and went back to the question.

"Neither of us are doing this, yes? Lynn isn't doing it, of course. She—" Gainel pointed to the unconscious _Discord_ lying not too far away, Lynn had almost forgotten about her, "—certainly isn't doing anything. And that—" he pointed up at the mass of chaos, "—doesn't have the will to do any such thing at the moment. So the question remains."

"You _must_ be guarded by Providence," Gainel said shaking his head then letting out a sigh and a slight smile, "Not that I'm complaining, I thought my heart had stopped when I saw him swipe at you."

"_If you were to ask me, I would say that I don't care." _Gainel muttered something about that being the deciding factor in _not_ asking her, but Phinity continued, _"We will be destroyed by Chaos inevitably if we can't find a way to leave before it takes her—" _The Goddess pointed to Lynn accusingly, turning the word 'her' into something resembling 'pond scum',_ "—into it and uses her to get into the mortal realm."_

"**_Isn't contemplation silent?"_** Gainel snapped, and the Goddess drew back with a look of embarrassment.

Lynn entwined her hands with his and laid her head on his shoulder, a small smile on her face. Gainel, apparently out of reflex, took her hand in his and started rubbing her fingers gently as Phinity started an argument with the Dream King, as to their next course of action.

"—_we must make Violence and Discord_ _open the gate of—"_

"—_**Aside from both of them being incapacitated for the moment, the Divine seals set upon the Chaos realm are still in place—,"**_

"—_Use the Dagger; it must be returnedin any case. Cut the seals—"_

"**_Wondrous plan, but what's to stop Chaos from following us, yes?"_**

The dispute continued, both Gods watching their surroundings with growing discomfort as the earth itself continued to be ripped from the realms construction, leaving only a pale white glow left behind in its place. The Mass of Chaos seemed to grow larger, and Lynn had to continuously stare fixated at the ground in order to evade the nauseousness that only a small flicker of the substance in her vision brought.

But even negating it completely from her gaze, Lynn began to feel unwell. Her insides were crawling and a force seemed to be pulling on her. She didn't realize that she had begun to quiver, pant and sweet until Gainel took his arm from her clutches, to embrace her shoulders and kneel with her as she sank to the ground.

"W-what's—," Sarralyn sputtered, barely having the strength to hug herself close and lean on Gainel.

"_She's becoming unstable."_ Phinity said knowingly, _"It is only a matter of Time before it takes her now. Chaos can't risk her death. The Logical thing to do is kill her now, before Chaos can use her to enter the Mortal realms—nugh!" _

Gainel held the Dagger of the Living Fire poised on Phinity's throat. Lynn hadn't even seen him move, but now she was sitting alone as white flames and static flickered across his form. _**"I will never condone such an action being committed under any circumstances and most especially not under this circumstance. Am I understood?"**_

_"Y-yes, Milord."_ She stammered, her eyes toggling between the furious Great God before her and the blazing dagger with the power to end her existence. He removed the dagger slowly and shutting it in the sheath and replacing it in his coat.

_ "**Make no mistake that you are a Lesser Goddess now, and you haven't the authority to be killing mortals of your own accord. A Trial might be in your future yet. Now sit over there until help arrives, I haven't the patience to deal with you."**_He told her pitilessly and made a shooing gesture towards the Gate.

Phinity looked like she might argue, but she winced and sat herself down a few feet away from Lynn, shooting frowns of disapproval at everything in sight except Gainel; upon reaching him she winced and averted her gaze hastily to glower at something else.

Lynn felt a faint probe upon her mind, just as Gainel snapped his head around to look in her direction. Lynn hastily flung up a shield, but it seemed to crumble apart. She felt like she was fumbling around in the dark, not knowing what she was doing, as Chaos batted away her efforts with ease.

Having only one operating eye was annoying, but it didn't hinder any of Gainel's other senses, and upon Chaos's first movement to snatch at Lynn's mind, he felt it and snapped to her side in an instant.

"Force it out, Lynn!" he whispered in her ear. He could see she was trying to shield without having had any prior knowledge or training on the subject. She built up shields that didn't have and groundings or foundations, but they still managed to keep Chaos form overwhelming her.

Lynn was gasping and shaking. She was growing more and more unbalanced as Chaos tugged at her essence. Gainel had the feeling that Lynn's form wasn't very stable to start with or she and Phinity would have started yielding up their Chaos simultaneously. She flickered and twitched, and coughed. Her nose started bleeding, dripping an inky black substance. He could even feel a faint echo calling his own essence, however the essence of Dream was it's own element; and it would take much more than this to rend it from his soul: such a mixture was near impossible to separate.

Phinity started shaking again as well, stable or not. She still contained some residues of Chaos, else she couldn't exist properly. The Goddess would start coughing it up again soon enough, but likely if she lost any more, she would be cease to have life; she'd be naught but an elemental: barely sentient, with no will and little power.

More Chaos leaked from Lynn's nose and a few drops flew from her mouth after a cough. Gainel thought he could cry. The slice over his eye was on fire as he squeezed them shut, just wishing he were in one of his Dreams.

The Ground around them grew smaller with every minute as chunks of the earth were torn asunder. Lynn's body jolted violently as a large bubble of Chaos was spat from her mouth and started its accent to the Great Mass above.

She's going to Die. She's going to Die. The realization hit him like a crash after a hundred-foot freefall. She's going to Die. Her form flickered again, and she seemed to fade in and out. Chaos began to leak from her eyes, mixing with her tears.

"You shouldn't," Lynn spluttered, and was interrupted by a cough, "have come. You shouldn't have come for me," She told him. Lynn Flinched as Chaos nearly managed to break her defense. Without the influence of Order to guide its efforts, it was having difficulty doing much of anything beside consume its surroundings, and Lynn was growing better at defending every moment, but it wouldn't be enough to keep her alive; and being cut off from the Divine Realms, her soul could not enter the Peaceful realms.

Not only would she die. But her soul would be consumed by Chaos.

"You would have done it for me." He told her, his voice hushed to below a whisper.

Phinity had long since started coughing again, but was managing to hold her form well. Lynn on the other hand was flinching and coughing violently, her own form barely managing to hold together. Soon she would be gone.

He was in Shock. Gainel embraced her tightly, with the ridiculous thought that if he could just hold her he could keep the Chaos from leaking out of her. And he kept thinking like they would somehow both get out of this alive. Asking himself questions of whether she'd still be his Lynn, or whether she'd still be able to hear him when he spoke.

Looking passed that Chaos filled sky, he asked angrily, _**"You save her from that bastard Violence only to let her die now? What kind of Hand of The Balance are you…"**_

A bone-trembling Chime echoed across the landscape coming from just behind them.

The Gate.

Managing to turn his head while still keeping a tight embrace around Lynn's trembling shoulders. He saw the iron and copper of the Gate flame bright cherry red, then gold, then white, and the Gate exploded in a rush of fire, heat and liquid metal. A heat wave rushed over them, searing everything in its path as a Being of pure fire and light stepped from the Gateway.

Lynn let out a gasp as the pull from Chaos was stopped but screamed as drops metal spattered only her skin and clothing, burning her flesh.

_"It may yet be saved." Providence sighed to himself both in extreme relief and surprise._

_Looking up to the giant, shadowed alabaster statue of a robed and hooded woman holding a set of bronze scales, he frowned in confusion. He'd known the importance of the girl to the continuation of The Balance. But even this integral place might not have convinced The Balance to allow him to intervene, not once, but Twice. Events set in motion for half an eternity to finally come to fruition millennia later._

_And yet this would not be the end._

_Her life was saved, but her place had not been affirmed. Strange happenings that had not been predicted had changed the course of events and the outcome was not as expected. It seemed The Balance would have to wait for the equilibrium to be corrected._

_Scanning the currents of the world once again, Providence saw more work ahead of them all. _


	23. Interlude 5

I confess, I don't own most of the characters in the story, Tamora Pierce does, but you already knew that…

**HEY I GOT A BETA! Everyone welcome Nyx Nox Night! I think she's been doing a good job putting up with me. Okay then here's what this means:**

**A severe drop mistakes in spelling and grammar.**

**You get to forward all the mistakes to her and not me! Yay! Get your notepaper and pen ready you'll have to scrutinize things doubly hard to find mistakes now that we have the power of TWO! Mwahahah!**

**It'll take an extra day or maybe even two or three before chapters come up, damn!**

**All your lovable old chapters will soon start to be reposted, mistake free, and maybe even with some extra content, we'll see!**

Okay and with that finished, all I've got to say is that I'm sorry I didn't update sooner but you'll understand when you read chapter 24. Yes, this is a double post, an interlude and the start of Part IV! You'll be happy to know that chapter 24 makes up for chapter 23's shortness by being about +5,300 words. You'll love me for that…maybe.

The reviews and news section at the top, I don't do until I get the beta-d copy back from Nyx, so any mistakes there you can totally blame on me, I'm cool like that.

**Reviews! After so long!**

**Ace Ryn Knight**, little to say? Is that good or bad? Either way, thanks for updating and remember to keep on keeping on. I love reviews, as do we all, I believe. Don't worry, I won't burn myself out. The "barely" wasn't so much of a "I barely forced myself to spit this out before I had to," as it was a "I barely managed to compromise the amount of Time I want to be on the computer with the amount of time my parents want me to be on the computer, to be able to get this done." I could do more if I could be on the computer twenty-four seven. I wish I had a computer in my brain. It would save time.

**Silveni**, did they get saved? You'll have to read on and find out. I'm so bad. In fact you don't really find out until chapter 24. But that doesn't mean you can skip this one, so don't, please. Rereading is always good. I even reread my own stuff and am like, "I don't remember writing that…" or "I couldn't of written that, it's too clever," or "Why'd I put that in? It's stupid I should have put _this_." It's good in reading and writing. But I'll stop lecturing.

Is Phinity good? Not necessarily. But she's not on the side of chaos anymore; mostly because it's trying to eat her up at this point. Just because someone isn't "Evil" doesn't mean they're "Good". We'll see what happens.

Anyways, thanks for reviewing! Please review again!

**Magequeen**, this probably isn't fast enough, but at least you get a lot to read! Thanks for reviewing again! Here you go!

**Feifiefofum,** Nyx will really (maybe) appreciate your notes once I start sending her all the old chapters to fix. Orlando Bloom?You don't even know what Provy looks like yet, for all you know he could look like Duke Roger's clone or something. Leet? I won't ask. Anyways, you can scream your head-off when I update all you want, just so long as it magically goes back on afterwards and the scream is a _joyous_ scream. Yeah, I'm demanding. Thanks for reviewing, here you go! Provy doesn't get so much in these chapters…sorry. But I'm actually planning a little extra ficlet in which all your favorite Canon and new Provy Characters beat up on him for the hell he's put them through. That is, if by planning, you meant just thought it up five seconds ago and have no solidity whatsoever as to whether it'll become a reality or not.

**Numair's Lover**, imaginary flamer review, huh? I'd actually like to see that. But then again, Provy keeps mentioning that things haven't been going they way they were supposed, too. I wonder what was supposed to happen. Seriously, he won't tell me, he's being a jerk about it.

Cliffy's. Yes, I like them because they are an easy way to end a chapter that doesn't leave you disappointed and all "who, that was boring, so what was the point of this chapter?" and makes you want to read the next. Anyways, I'm glad you'll let me have midnight snacks. Thanksgiving's coming up I _need_ my pumpkin pie with ice cream.

And I'm glad my story distracts you from pitching your calculus book in the fire place. Not only are those things _expensive_, but hell, I think all book are holy, even the really crappy ones. You never chuck a book. Or at least I don't, although I've come pretty close when it comes to mandatory school reads and the damned AP Euro text book. I hated that thing by the end. Oh, how I loathed it. I didn't chuck it though, I spilt yogurt on it, and the book clerk didn't seem to notice when I gave it back. So you can say, that I had my cake and ate too, haha take that!

Thanks for reviewing and be sure to read, enjoy and review again! And in that order, that's _essential_.

**Nativewildmage**, yeah, if I killed off Lynn, this would become really angst, really fast. And whenever I try to do angst I think it comes out a little…I dunno, as if the person is just some emo-wannabe that just feels sorry for themselves. I'm trying to get better at it a little bit. I know there are a couple sad spots in this story where I'm trying to practice it.

And you like the description, eh? Well I "descript-ed"-out this chapter and the next one. Hopefully it's not too much. Make sure to tell me what you think, in a review!

**Lady Knight 1512**, Woohoo! A new reviewer! Worked your way through all 22 at once? That's an accomplishment. I wouldn't say Sarralyn is a random person to fall in love with a God. For some reason when I thought to write this story, I kept thinking "Man, why hasn't anyone written something about them together before?" It seemed obvious to me, though when I think about it now, I find it really isn't.

Gainel is appealing, he's meant to be. I'm giggling maniacally right now.

How do I think of my characters? All I can say is that I think to much. And not necessarily on anything that's practical. Mostly on supposedly pointless stuff like making up characters; but I don't think it's pointless, I like it. Sorry I didn't update that quickly, but maybe the double-post will cheer you a bit. It's long, too. Hope you enjoy, and keep reviewing!

**RemusTonks4eva, **Another new reviewer! Yes! Yes! To each his (or her) own, I say. Gainel is my favorite, but I definitely like Numair, I mean without him there'd be no Lynn, and that's not even the least of his accomplishments in goodness-ness. I also think Numair and Gainel are a lot alike, though not enough that it's significantly noticeable. Glad you like my story, please review again!

**Enchantednight84**, ANOTHER NEW REVIEWER! Thanks for reading and double thanks for liking it! Phinity isn't in these two chapters much, but she will be in the future! So I hope you keep reading and reviewing!

**Rowenhood,** ANOTHER NEW REVIEWER! It's my lucky day! Yeah my spelling in grammar's pretty atrocious, though I'm getting better at catching things, I like to think there are less mistakes then there used to be. I won't have to worry about it as much now since I have my fabulous beta! I'll keep at it though, I hope to continue getting reviews from you, enjoy!

**Noc and NC,** Be at ease! All will be answered in these two chapters! Well, actually only the most immediate thing will be answered. But you will find out who busted the gate. And in this interlude no less! Thank you for reviewing, responding is the very least I can do. I hope you'll review again!

**Nyx Nox Night,** not only are you ANOTHER NEW REVIEWER, but my new beta! You've already read these chapters, but I hope you'll drop me a review or an email about them anyways. Thank You Again!

**Juliette,** YOU ARE MY SIXTH NEW REVIEWER THIS POST! WHOO HOO!

Wow, you think it's genius? Someone finally agrees with me! Just kidding. You're compliments are _definitely_ appreciated. I'm always trying to be original and stay interesting, It's awesome that I've succeeded. You're review really made feel all fizzy inside! I could seriously cry, but I'll settle for jumping up and down and running down my hall, my sister already thinks I'm slightly disturbed. Definitely review again, _please_! I'll try my best to remain interesting and original, girl-scout's honor!

**Thanks:** everyone who reviewed! And thank you everyone who's read my story, even if you haven't dropped an email or review. And you haven't, you should! I always love to hear you guys!

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

**Interlude 5 Subsequent Action**

"_Go to our brother Mithros, and inform him of the events that have taken place here." He told her, once again taking up the Mantel of the Dream King._

_Apfel nodded numbly at him as he turned toward the Divine Realms and Chaos, disappearing. _

_'Providence, what is happening?' Apfel pondered as she turned to make her own way to the Hall of the Gods.' Gainel…how could he enter the mortal realms?' Granted, he just waved his hand into it, but that amounts to about the same thing when you get right down to it._

_Reaching the Golden doors engraved with suns, and scenes of epic battles, trials, Gods, immortals and mortal in flashes of mythology and history. She abruptly, pushed open the tall doors, nearly smacking Equitus standing in the way of the other side. _

"_Announce me." She demanded him._

_The son of Mithros yelped, his golden skinned face wearing a harassed expression. Three pairs of large, pearly wings, flapped furiously from his wrists, ears, and ankles. He looked a legionary in his gold-wrapped sandals, arm braces and helmet with a tall white crest of Feathers standing rigid behind the sun-in-circle design of Mithros. His Sapphire blue hair, barely peaking from under his helmet, was cut militarily short. _

_Equitus drew out a golden trumpet, the thin tubing directly before the mouth piece draped in a banner of a many rayed gold embossed Sun on a dark blue field, and let out a peal that echoed through the hall. Chatter immediately came to a halt as he yelled "Great Goddess Apfel, Goddess of Truelove, Karma, Destiny, and Luck. Child of Mother Flame and Father Universe, Consort of The Black God!"_

_Apfel barely waited for him to finish protocol, before she stepped down from the slightly raised entryway, and rushed to the raised dais that held the Gold and Silver thrones of The Great Mother Goddess and Mithros._

_Mithros with his dark eyes and black skin, and wearing golden plate and mail with a stylized sun engraved within circle on a medallion around his neck. Mithros's helmet was styled like a heavy Crown but had a tall, straight crest of long Black feathers, running behind his sun emblem. In his right hand he held a Golden spear, its blade mirror-bright and reflecting light from no where in particular. In his right hand, an ebony Magistrate's hammer with the symbol of the Sun carved and filled with gold on its base. Rays of gold light, reaching from a circle of light set behind his head, stretched and moved like roving fingers as they touched upon everything in sight. _

_ The Goddess's skin, in her aspect of the Mother, was lily white; her hair ebon black as the night and filled with diamond like dew drops that sparkled like jewels. She wore a draped dress of shimmering white and silver silk, fastened by an intricately worked silver cage in the shape of an elaborate crescent moon, which left one of her breasts bare, the fringe strung with millions of rows or silver beads that fell across her form. Wrapped around her neck and arm was a Giant Python, and sitting on her shoulders were birds and reptiles and mammals of every kind, as studded and colorful as gems. She wore a coronet of crescent moons that dripped meandering rays of silver light. _

"_My Lord, My Lady," she bowed, "We have a crisis!"_

_Mithros's brows knit together, his face wearing an expression of straight out denial, **"A crisis, you say, Sister? What sort of crisis, please explain?"**_

_"A mortal by the name of Sarralynn has been captured by Chaos." Apfel explained. "She—," _

_"**This is terribly sad news, however—"** Mithros began but Apfel cut him off. This was important and she couldn't afford to be diplomatic._

_"I haven't finished Milord," Apfel said angrily, "She is Bonded to one of our own, who as gone to search her out himself!"_

_The chatter began again in the court as everyone counted and examined those not among them, hastily calculating who this wayward Mortal's partner might be. If this mortal was killed in chaos, they would waste away, bereft for eternity until they became a malevolent spirit or an emotionless elemental. _

_"But that isn't all, my Lord. There are even greater matters then the loss of a Kinsman at stake. Chaos plans to use this girl to its own advantage; to enter the mortal realms itself and pray upon it mercilessly, and then, eventually gain enough power to enter the Divine realms themselves." Apfel declared and the whole court gasped and the chatter rose to a din as every God and Goddess tried to make their opinions known upon the subject._

_"We must mount a rescue immediately!"_

_"Which-" _

_"Leave the poor fools, Chaos can't get passed the seals!"_

_"How was this girl captured?"_

_"This is impossible!"_

_"Is this girl," a high, breathy voice whispered, and all grew quiet as it finished, "The same girl brought before us by Gainel some but a decade passed?"_

_"Yes." Apfel told her as a hushed voice contemplated this significance._

_The speaker was Danube, not a Great Goddess, but still high in the Divine hierarchy. She was a petite thing, with white hair, face and eyes that seemed permanently wet. Four sets of long, transparent wings hung down, occasionally twitching or kicking up a breeze, from behind her ears. White satin cascaded down her gradually fading form to become transparent and turn to flowing winds. Icicles and frost covered parts of her and her own breathe could be seen as if it were a particular cold winters day. Frost also covered the ground near her wind made feet._

_"Is Gainel her Bonded?" Danube asked calmly. A few gods burst out laughing or gave her looks of scorn, or shook heads contemptuously, until Apfel nodded affirmation. The court was silent._

_"I see," Danube said, "it seemed plain that she should hold some significance to the Lord Gainel, however this is slightly unexpected. In any case, we cannot leave either of them in Chaos; I propose we alert Mother Flame and Father Universe immediately, and prepare to breach the seals for their subsequent rescue."_

_Objections broke out immediately until Kyprioth held up his hand, saying, **"I second, Danube's proposal. Our Mother and Father must be called upon. Uusoae is planning to evade their laws, it is a breach of conduct!"**_

_ "**The proposal has been seconded! Voting will commence!" **Mithros shouted above the court, after his eyes tightened upon noticing the Great Trickster God. Mithros was still quite angry with the Trickster for usurping himself and The Goddess in the Copper Isles, once again called the Kypriang Isles, however he wouldn't allow that to interfere with his judgment. _

_He pounded his Magistrate's mallet on an ebony stopper attached to the arm of his throne. The sound rang out and Thothate, the Scribe of the Gods, approached the dais, carrying an Ibis feather quill and a sheaf of papyrus clipped to a board._

_Thothate looked to have the head and beak of an Ibis, but upon closer inspection, it was in fact a hood. The false head however, and opened closed its eyes, ruffled it's feathers and turned its head as if it were the true head. Wearing a simple black servant's livery with white and gold ibis's embroidered as the crest, Thothate stood at the dais ready to take tallies of voters._

_"**All in favor say, 'Yea'!" **Mithros called, the Scribe God with his quill at the ready, when the doors were flung open and Fire erupted into the hall as Mother Flame stepped through within._

_A body of pure flames, her eyes burning embers, she walked briskly into the room. Despite the fact that she was lower than the dais, there was no doubt that she held the power now._

_She was followed by a Being of pure dark and emptiness, casting long shadows within shadows about the room, threatening to warp and drown out the rays from the other gods within. The Ancient couple did not speak until they reached the center of the room, when the both stopped to gaze at each face in turn. Everyone was quiet and still._

_"**My Dear Children,"** Mother flame said, in a voice of pure light and heat, **"Maketh thyselves ready. Thy Brother Providence tells of ill done, my children. This ill shalt not goeth unpunished."**_

_"**Listen to thy Mother, maketh thyselves ready for the trial that shalt come."** Father Universe said his voice the echoing of endless space. Father Universe brought a star-flecked hand up to the Gate of Chaos, with links of bright, white opal, chained about the gate and fastened with ten locks, each bearing a different stylized crest._

_A Golden Sun on a blue field for Mithros._

_A Silver Crescent on a Purple field for the Great Mother Goddess._

_A Black three-headed Sheep on a Silver field for the Black God._

_A Pair of White Doves on a Scarlet field for herself._

_A Golden Snake biting its own tail on a green field for Kidunka, the World-Snake._

_A Black crow in an amber field for Kyprioth._

_A Yellow Anvil and hammer on a red field for the Smith God. _

_A Gold Three-ringed hand on a hunter green field for Lishagui, the Banjiku Goddess. _

_A Cream Stalk of Rice with ripples of water on a blue field, for Yama, the patron goddess of the Yamanis Isles._

_A Curling Blue wave on a White field for the Wave-Walker._

_And a White Eye on a Black field for Gainel and Dream._

_Father Universe waved his hand and the seals flared, the chains falling from the gate. Mother Flame stepped in front of him and flung her fiery arms wide and the gate opened with a rush of super-heated air._


	24. Part IV: Burned out

I don't own tammy's stuff.**  
**

**Whoo-hoo! **Nyx has this revised! She was stalled by damnable homework and school, (and school always comes first, or it should at least), but she's managed! Lets all say a thanks!

**Providence Smiles  
**

By LGR

**Part IV: Burned Out**

A bone-trembling chime echoed across the landscape coming from just behind them.

The Gate.

Managing to turn his head, while still keeping a tight embrace around Lynn's trembling shoulders, Gainel saw the iron and copper of the Gate flame a bright cherry red, then gold, then white, and then the Gate exploded in a rush of fire and liquid metal. A heat wave rushed over them, searing everything in its path as a being of pure fire and light stepped from the Gateway.

Lynn let out a gasp as the pull from Chaos was stopped, then screamed as drops of molten metal spattered onto her skin and clothing, searing her flesh. Heat blasted into her lungs and light ripped through her eyes as Gainel's shield shattered under the pressure of the eternal fire.

It hurt. A lot.

The paths where information traveled in her mind were blasted wide open, and senses she didn't know she had were shouting things into her brain which she couldn't understand.

Lynn blacked-out, then shot up gasping into Gainel's arms. She might have thought it was all a dream, a terrible dream, but it hurt too much to have been a dream.

Her tears were nonexistent dust, she didn't have enough moisture left in her to cry properly; even if she didn't have a headache from having her sense-ways blown open, Gods' voices blaring in her mind and crying earlier.

She hadn't realized she was screaming at the top of her lungs until someone slammed a shield on her. Lynn suddenly felt constricted and a dull throb pulsed like thunder in her eardrums, her heart was still racing, and she could still easily sense the Gods through the shield, like glowing suns and stars pulsing in different colors. A few in particular still shone straight through the veil, Gainel included. They were near painful and her head would spasm from any particularly florid beams and rays.

That sense of gossip and chatter ricocheted through her surroundings. She felt the gods talking in their silent way; streaks of energy passed by her to briefly connect the suns and she caught the ends of words or images as one passed near her, berating her and interfering with her thought patterns.

The little that she dared to open her eyes made her slam them shut again. Not only did her head feel like she was cracking it against a brick wall, but the red and blistered state of her exposed skin didn't bear thinking about, and all of her skin was exposed, and most of it had burned off.

She also noticed a moment later, that her head didn't feel lighter so much as because she was light-headed, but as all her hair was gone and her scalp was burnt, too. An image of her oozing and blistered arm reared its ugly head before she managed to push it away into that vortex of dialogue and images rising unbidden into her mind.

Sputtering and temporarily knock to her senses, Lynn suddenly found herself drenched in water. She could literally hear the hiss of her skin as the cold water touched it and turned to vapor.

Opening her eyes, she could see it, the steam drifting from her blisters in white swirls. Blessedly cold hands were trying to pry her off Gainel as she was keeping a death grip around his neck. From the jerky movement of his body, he seemed to be having trouble doing whatever it was he was doing—maneuvering her to a position where she wasn't splayed gawkily and uncomfortably half-on, half-off the floor—and she found she was actually amazed how well she managed to hold on. She'd progressed to shivering, clenched teeth and cold-flashes: not the best of signs.

Apparently he decided she needed to let go as well, so he gently tried to unclench her wrists from his neck with a maimed expression. She wondered why Gainel didn't just phase out of her. Unless, of course, he too was out of energy.

Her own strength was failing and she couldn't fight against the cold hands trying to pull her away from him any longer, but they thankfully didn't pull her far. She could barely feel the pain from her body now; she was numb, maybe in shock. More water was dumped on her, icy cold water, and she felt the water as she'd never before. She could tell it was special, not regular water, because it was filled with magic. And not just any magic, divine magic, that was trying to combat her flashes and burning skin.

Lifting her eyes took a surprising amount will, but she managed it. The shield seemed frail, like veil-cloth just thick enough to be irritating and keep fresh air from reaching you. True it was blocking most of the more dangerous forms of magical radiation from the Gods, but the brightness, the flicker of traveling and manipulating energy, it blazed through and she couldn't help feeling as if she were being sunburned from the unending flood of light.

The goddess holding her felt of damp and cold, and the magic that flowed about her in rivulets spoke of wind and water. The outlines of nymphs and fish and birds were discernable at times before they vanished to be replaced by new shapes and curlicues. Her blazing aura shone the silver of a goddess mixed with her personal colors of white and light blue. The aura was strong, but not painfully so; she was not a Great god.

This goddess was made of frost and wind. Wing shaped hair ornaments dripped large feathers covering her ears, her white skin and clothing changing to transparency as they reached her feet, before dissipating into flows of air and frost, no wonder her hands were cold.

Gainel was also being helped up, but by a Black-cloaked figure; the Black God. His visage seemed to be cut from darkness, only interrupted by a strip of white embroidered skulls, slightly less black hounds and three-headed black sheep running around the hem of his cloak and robes. His hands were also gloved in black with a single ivory ring on his left hand.

Like the other goddess, the Black God leaked an aura of silver, but his was mixed with black and sapphire blue. Unlike her though, great rays of black and sapphire light reached out searchingly from a blazing halo of power round his indiscernible head, a clear indication of one of the Greater Gods. When they lit upon her, she felt their burn.

Lynn also saw the rays from Gainel; rippling rays that jittered in endless colors and meandered zealously. She felt a faint hum as she locked onto his form and an echo of familiarity as those rays fell upon her, not in the least uncomfortable.

The Dream King's clothes looked perfectly fine, but everything else about him hadn't faired so well. Half of his side had been charred, and it looked agonizing, it was his 'good-side' the one that hadn't been slashed at by _Violence_. Shuddering, her own pain momentarily forgotten, Lynn's disposition sunk even lower.

"**_Come."_** A voice of fire and heat said behind her. Turning hesitantly, Lynn perceived a being of pure flame, a woman, her body just discernable as great tongues of fire arced of her body in wafts of crimson and gold and white. The air around her cracked and rippled from heat and a glow extended to touch every corner of the hall.

This must be Mother Flame.

"**_Take my energy. Heal thyself."_** She said, and held out a hand of eternal fire.

Before Lynn could think that she must be crazy to take a hand of _fire_, she had, and her veins felt like they'd been hit with a transfusion of molten iron. Her flesh exploded into action, regenerating itself, flushing out the fever and chills, and invigorating her, filling up her reservoir of power once again.

She was still cold, dripping and wet. At that moment Lynn realized she was naked. It was not the best of combinations. Especially when everyone was staring at you, as they were.

"**_Come, Heal my son." _**Mother Flame said, and gently led her over to where Gainel was standing next to the Black God, slightly unsteadily.

"**_Please, tap my energy once more. Healeth my son." _** She repeated, and took Lynn's hand in her own with a touch of fiery inferno, placing them together on Gainel's cheek. The energy from Mother Flame used her like a conduit, but the directing was all done by Lynn.

She had never healed anyone but herself; hadn't known she could, and she especially hadn't healed anyone who was a God, Lynn wouldn't have really thought they would need it. Why couldn't Mother Flame have done her rejuvenation thing on Gainel? Why did she use her, a mortal?

If everything else Lynn knew about gods hadn't told her they were different, this would have. She was a Shapeshifter and anatomy was her specialty. The body was human enough. But, interwoven between the organs and vitals, there were channels of flowing energy. Gods were made to use magic and this should have been no surprise; naturally they would have a much more efficient way of distributing it about the body for use. She could also see that it supported the body allowing it to sustain itself even when greatly damaged.

She could also see that what she saw here wasn't all of him. Looking 'off' in a way she couldn't describe, Lynn saw him reflected in those other dimensions: parts of his power and consciousness.

It took a lot more energy than repairing herself. Gainel's wounds, except to the damage to his eye, weren't as extensive as hers, and she didn't know if it was because she was healing someone other than herself, or just the way his body absorbed all the energy, but it was harder, and took more energy.

Gainel hissed as Lynn fixed his eye, and then opened it, more vibrant than ever, with swirls of gold, black and emerald, and bubbles of white opal.

There was a round of gasps about the room as the chatter exploded into a din. Those conversations she'd described as 'silent' were noisy enough now. She caught the mood of shock, disbelief, and curiosity through her new sensitivity. The chatter penetrated the shield violently; little of it distinguishable from the many overlaying conversations being mind-spoken at once.

Lynn snapped her hands to her ears; but it did no good, the sound wasn't physical and she didn't know how to block it. She fumbled piteously, trying to grasp at techniques she'd only just stumbled upon, to keep the uproar from invading her conscious thought.

Something had happened to Lynn, even a feebleminded idiot could see that and Gainel was the furthest thing from a feebleminded idiot. The little movement she'd done was uncoordinated and that wasn't just from her recent injuries, she was being distracted by the gods conversations; she could hear them.

_She must have had these abilities all along; no wonder she could here me before. The excess chaos was blocking and confusing them, but with some of that now gone, the pathways are open_. Gainel realized.

"**_Still your tongues, fools!"_** A female goddess shouted in ordinary speech. Few obeyed.

He had to do something; young gods who couldn't learn to cope were sometimes reduced to elementals or spirits before they even rose to power. The increased consciousness could be mentally damaging.

The powers and techniques to wield these senses were forbidden to humans; another of the many rules that governed to lives of the gods. He wasn't sure if that vague voice in the back of his mind that said "Is she entirely human anymore? Was she ever in the first place?" was right or wrong, good or bad, but he didn't have the time to consider it.

"_Please_ Mother," he pleaded to the Ancient Goddess. It didn't take the slightest effort to look desperate and careworn.

After a moment of consideration she nodded, and he gave an internal sigh of relief; there had been no guarantee that she would agree, even at the behest of her son.

He checked the shield on her for cracks, but found it to be solid. Someone hadn't stinted either, just because she was a mortal, it was well made. The calming aura had his brother the Black God written all over it and he was secretly thankful to his kinsman for being so considerate. Well, he'd found a new favorite brother.

Taking her wrist, in his left hand and her bare shoulder in his right, he said in her ear, "Lynn, try to listen."

"I'm trying…everyone's talking…it's hard to…tell what's…what's…." she stuttered, still trying to jerk her hands to her ears.

"You know how to meditate, yes?" he asked her. He was fairly sure she could; both her parents and her brother were mages, she would know the practice even if she didn't use it regularly herself.

"How to…to…what?..." she asked confused.

"Meditate," he repeated.

"Med-di…yes, I …do."

To say Gods had no need to meditate would have been decidedly untrue, or rather say gods were in a constant state of meditation. The control of one's self which meditation brought was essential in the work of a God. Unfortunately meditation could only do so much, and after a time the control remained and the feeling of peace lost its potency and one was left with normal emotional responses. In fact, one had to do something like 'secondary' meditation to regain that affect. In truth it was the next closest thing to sleep.

"Do so quickly." He watched as she struggled to do the rhythmic breathing required for meditation while so many things were pushing themselves in her mind at once, but she must have been well practiced in the procedure because she managed after only a few moments.

Lynn was on the inside of an orb of opalescent color staring out. She _was_ the orb and she could tell the difference now, between her own thoughts and others; everything she was, everything that was _her_, was inside that glowing globe. Her envisioned self frowned at the state of her own mind. Once it had been orderly and organized, but now there were so many new things yet to be sorted that hadn't been present previously.

Streams of whizzing information passed through unanalyzed because she hadn't the proper knowledge to do so. Those streams were rushing in everywhere at once with nothing to halt or slow them and no way of deciding what was important and what was not.

"Ahh! Don't look!" she squeaked, as she saw Gainel standing next to her, like a matron with a cluttered home when impromptu guests arrived. Somehow she didn't find it surprising that her hair was present…or her clothes.

Gainel chuckled, "I've seen worse," he said, "No need to be ashamed. It does need to be fixed, however." He took her gently by the shoulders, led her to the border of her mind and they peered out together.

"See the colors?"

"Yes." She answered, looking at the interplaying colored strands twining between the bright orbs without. A few tore straight through her little spherical sanctuary to intercept other strings. These had been the loudest conversations blaring in her unprotected mind with dangerous strength. Gainel was glaring and shaking his head viciously at the sight of them.

"One would think they could have just a little selflessness; apparently not." He observed angrily before sighing and turning back to her, "These are the magic and minds of others; in this case, the other gods." he trailed off in disgust, "You need to keep them out, this sort of situation," he indicated the strings crisscrossing her consciousness, "is dangerous for you."

"What do I do?" she asked, hanging on his every word. She loved to learn new things, especially when these new things kept her from going mad.

"You cannot push them out, there are multiple invasion points. Pushing is only practical against a single opponent and these presences are only communicating, not attacking, there is no need for offensive action; simply defense. Keep them out, but don't push. Place your shield and hold it steady." He stated informatively, then said, "Try."

"Will it…hurt them," she asked hesitantly, meaning those to whom the invading strings belonged to.

"Hurt them? No, it shouldn't. Severe head ache or jolt at most," Gainel said dismissively, "Go on. Don't be gentle; they're in _your_ mind. They've no right to be here without your invitation. Cut them out. No mercy, when it comes to protection." He said seriously.

It took her mind a moment to finagle 'into position', as she thought of it, but once she activated it, a shield snapped up instantly severing the strands. It wanted to push out or dissipate but she managed to hold the protective dome in place with an effort.

Once the strings were sliced, she vaguely heard a groan or exclamation of irritation with her real ears, but her greater attention was for what was going on inside herself. The turmoil from outside stopped and stillness and calm reigned within as she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Very good. Well done. Now you only need to keep it up indefinitely." He said with an amused grin as she groaned.

"I'll never do it. I'm tired already." She complained.

"It may tire you at first, but your mind and body will adapt, after a time." The Dream King said.

"How long is a time?" she asked suspiciously.

"It depends. But we aren't finished yet; come here." Gainel took her by the shoulders and led her to the center of her orb. "See these channels?"

She saw them. They were paths of information, most of them new, and they passed through her wall as if it wasn't there.

"What does it all mean?" She wasn't sure whether she was talking about the new information or the fact those new channels existed, but the remark seemed required.

"We haven't the time to show you now; but later I shall. For now, which do you need and which do you not? I'm not terribly familiar with the previous state of your consciousness."

She took a look over the channels. She knew the ones which had been active before her little trip to _Chaos,_ and told him. He showed her a way to block some of them, how to put others aside where they were still active but not at the forefront of her brain, shouting for attention, and how to protect her more prominent ones from becoming indistinct and unclear due to stray information from other channels.

Taking a last look they surveyed the results. The place was unquestionably more organized than before, Lynn decided. Gainel approved as well by giving her shoulders a hug as they examined the fruits of their labor.

"Not bad; not bad in the least." He told her, the coal of his hair and the rippling black and slightly less black patterns playing across his coat and slacks making a stark contrast against the white of her globe.

She liked looking at him. At six feet, it wasn't every day that she met someone tall enough to put their arm around her shoulders without discomfort; and not every day she would find anyone that wanted to.

Hugging him back with both arms, she let out a slightly shuddering breath, "I know we have to go back soon; what I could make out from those…those conversations, said something about a trial, but…I don't want to have to go away again like before. I can feel the difference between a dream and actuality. It isn't real, it isn't the same; I don't know how to explain it."

"You're right. It isn't the same. I'm always struggling to affect reality with these phantoms; its difficult to make it real. With you here…I feel like, like it's already coming true, just the way I dreamt," he whispered, his eyes soft and awe filled at the sudden truth of his words, "A dream…until now."

"Would you…" he asked suddenly, "Like to stay with me for a little before you go back? You can send word to your parents so they won't worry, and I'll bring you back after a few days."

"That would be wonderful…definitely!" she beamed up at him, "But wait: _You'll_ bring me back?" she asked confusedly.

"Oh, I didn't tell you; I must have forgotten."

"Forgotten what?" she asked suspiciously, as Gainel took on a thinking pose that was probably meant for the sole purpose of teasing her, with a smile tugging on his mouth; it must be big news.

"Oh, _now_ I remember: we said we'd hold stories for _later_—"

"Ahhh! Just tell me already!" she demanded hastily.

"Because of you, my Dear, yours truly can now visit the mortal realms." He nodded acquiescently as Lynn gaped.

"Because of _me?_"

"Because of you."

"Wait…what? How?"

"That, I'm afraid really must wait. The trial shall begin momentarily it seems. I swear before the Balance, Mithros hates me. He really could wait just a moment longer…" He trailed off frowning. He looked as drained as she felt. "Well, then, see you on the other side."

Gainel disappeared right away, but it took Lynn a little longer to let go of the meditation. Opening her eyes she found herself back in that hall feeling almost normal, if not deathly tired. She wanted to sleep for four months straight like the bears in the north did at winter time.

Lynn looked about for Gainel to find him gone and a tremor of anxiety swept her as she urgently looked about for him. Oddly enough her hair was back; she must have somehow regenerated it back when she healed herself. She blushed crimson when she realized her clothes were still gone.

As she squeaked, and hastily tried to cover herself, a musical laugh erupted from next to her. Looking up from her crouched position, she saw one who had to be a Greater Goddess. With her new shields she had to focus a little to see the flooding rays of vermillion, gold and white, stretching to touch all in the area with a faint glow from a halo of power around her head.

If she hadn't been stricken by embarrassment and apprehension at Gainel's absence, Lynn would have been giddy with delight at her success. The rays weren't blinding her, and she was aware that they were there without conflicting with her ordinary vision; they were more of an impression.

The Goddess had the deepest shade of red hair Lynn had ever seen. Wet-looking ruby curls with strands of pure gold fell down to her waste in a tumble. A gown of red velvet with imprints of roses and a center stripe of white silk covering in intricate and delicate lace designs with doves, roses and lilies. An embroidered gold edge traced itself along the length interwoven with minute pearls and there were dangling drops of ruby on her earlobes. Her face was alabaster clear and heart-shaped with sparkling turquoise eyes and long lashes.

The Goddess winked and held up her elegant hands, twiddling her fingers like those phony traveling magicians that spoke nonsense-words then miraculously pulled a white rabbit out of a tall hat.

Before Lynn could so much as raise an eyebrow at this strange behavior, she found that she was now standing in a silk-lined captain's style, silver-studded grey coat with a tall color. Black swirl-patterns ran all along its length and the form-fitting breaches of matching grey held a strip of black swirls along the side of each leg, disappearing into shiny black, heeled boots.

At least the shirt was plain enough; nice clean white. Some of the Queen's Riders might commit murder for a piece of clothing like that coat; needless to say she was impressed.

"Oh my! Thank you, err—," she racked her brain for who the goddess could be; there were only eleven Great Gods, after all.

"Apfel, Darling. And no need to thank me; its no trouble." She said and began to lead Lynn away from her spot on the ground. Her body said, "No! I'm finished, I can't do anything more! I want to _sleep_!" but she managed not to stumble too obviously as Apfel carted her along.

She hesitated to follow the Goddess. She wanted to be with Gainel. So many things were happening at once; _had_ been happening at once, and were _continuing_ to happen at once, that she needed something familiar. More specifically she wanted to be with him right now.

"Where's Gainel?" she asked in a nervous squeak, her eyes darting about the hall to analyze every face within view.

"Over there Darling, no need to worry." The Goddess pointed.

The Dream King had apparently been kidnapped by a group of lesser gods and goddesses demanding information. Gainel expression showed only slight bits of bewilderment and dread, but that was all Lynn needed to tell that he felt besieged. Those blinks and flashes were back with a vengeance, and there was no doubt in her mind he was not enjoying himself.

Despite the fact that his face was unseen, Lynn had the impression that the Black God, who was overseeing the episode from a foot or so from the crowd, was taking strident amusement out of seeing his kinsman being mobbed. Lynn didn't think it was very funny and her strength seemed to return as she contemplated terrible things to do to those who would distress _her _Gainel.

"Oh! What happened, what happened?"

"Is Uusoae gone for good?"

"Is it true you're bonded to a _mortal_?"

Gainel was slowly drawing back, the shadows over his eyes returning as he tried to discourage his interrogators' questions. Due to her new shields, she wouldn't even have noticed the reclusive behavior of his rays and halo if not for the fact the reduction was so extreme.

After a moment, Mithros bellowed a warning that the trial would begin in a few minutes. The Black God seemed to decide that Gainel had suffered enough and shooed the lesser gods away. Gainel gave him a slight accusatory look but the Black God's serenity was a clear suggestion of innocence.

"And to think, I had you labeled as my favorite brother…" Lynn heard Gainel say in satirical sadness, shaking his head, but he looked terribly relieved as the horde dissipated; he had been pale, even for him. Upon seeing Apfel toting over an exhausted Lynn he almost visibly relaxed.

Lynn felt a soft knock on her mind shield. Through some instinct she couldn't understand, she lowered her screen in a way that extended only to the knocker. She knew it was Gainel; his particular aura was becoming more and familiar to her in every way.

**I'm sorry**, came a thought in her head unbidden by her own mind: it was Gainel. **Mithros kept insisting we would begin any moment as I was teaching you, despite the fact they were not: Apparently _Violence_ unfroze and started rampaging, but the Smith God warded him. They're also trying to heal _Discord_ from incapacitation; it seems that the healing goes well…unfortunately. **

**Unfortunately?**She asked, confused.

**I had wanted the lesson to stick.** The mind voice was almost cold, but not towards her. Then he continued,** She wouldn't have been able to function properly for at least a decade if not longer: they don't have proper healers in _Chaos_. Either way, however, I believe she'll think again before she tries to hurt you again. She knows I would never forgive her if she managed anything. Mother Flame and Father Universe Condemn me, but I'd destroy her.**

**I see,** was all she could say in response; his statement was brutal, but Lynn knew she'd do the same thing if the situation were to be reversed and Discord had attacked Gainel.

"_Truly_?" The Black God's voice was deep and ethereal but strangely still full of expression and intonation.

**Your shields are holding? You're a very quick learner.** Gainel said proudly, **plenty of Lesser Gods take years to learn these techniques properly; you did so in about five minutes.**

**It was only five minutes? It felt like hours,** she groaned.

"Truly." Gainel said in mock disappointment. Lynn didn't know if it was obvious to anyone else, but she could tell he was showing a good face for everyone. The rabble had dispirited him. She understood why he hated to attend court if he was similarly affected every time he was in a crowd.

He seemed easily able to continue two conversations at once, as he continued to converse with her and attend to The Black god concurrently. Luckily no one had tried to talk to her; Lynn's thoughts were jumbled enough without having to follow two different strands of dialogue simultaneously.

Gainel took his leave of her mind after she reassured him that the shields were indeed blocking her distress and she felt sorrow as his comforting presence left her. It returned however, a moment later when she and Apfel reached them. Gainel took her hand and began massaging it between his own as she laid her head on his shoulder. If anyone objected she'd use the excuse she was 'tired'. It was true enough.

"_I am dreadfully sorry._" The Black god replied in response Gainel's statement, Lynn had to think a little to remember what he was talking about; her mind was fuzzy from exhaustion. He sounded like he meant it.

"Honestly," Apfel began exasperated, "Kyprioth, can't a group of friends have a chat without _you_ nosing about like some compulsive derelict?" She demanded suddenly turning to the Great God who was inching his way distrustfully near to their group.

"What about me?" Kyprioth asked, almost genuinely; everyone ignored him as he incorporated himself into the group as if that had been his intension all along; it probably had been.

Kyprioth's rays of amber and crystal shone from his own halo. He had the appearance of an older Copper Islander Native in a bright orange and deep red sarong, and dark-toned skin with a salt and peppered beard. The effect was slightly spoiled by the pounds of gaudy jewelry draped in great swathes of gold and copper with specks of fire winking from rubies, sapphires, emeralds and cut malachite. The easy smile was a clear indicator of mischief.

"Oh, Apfel gave you new clothes." Gainel said as he examined her; the attempt at enthusiasm made it all the more obvious he wasn't entirely enthused. Both Apfel and Kyprioth made a few terribly obvious insinuations that suggested just that. Gainel didn't bother to deny them, as if the heinous allegations weren't worthy of his disapproval. Lynn actually found herself laughing along.

The first few were humorous, but as Kyprioth's jokes became more and more personal Gainel began to shoot him looks that would send any normal person running for cover.

"Look; we match: we both have coats." Lynn said with a smile, trying to change the subject.

"How long do you think it'll be before neither of you do…" Kyprioth began before she cut him.

"Well, that's hardly any of _your_ business, now is it?" she scolded, without thinking, her face flushed with embarrassment and outrage.

But the damage had been done; she'd just mouthed-off to one of the Great Gods. And not Gainel either, with whom she was familiar with; but _Kyprioth_! The Great Trickster God!

She waited for an explosion that never came. Instead, Apfel started snickering and jabbing a chastised Kyprioth with her elbow, chanting, "Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"_Our brother never comes to court, and he finally does and you try to scare him off again. And what's more, you anger his bonded as well. You should be ashamed Kyprioth." _The Black God admonished. Kyprioth hung his head; he really did seem sorry, at the very least because he had been yelled at, if not for the sake of their actual feelings.

Bonded. Everyone was talking about being 'bonded'. It sounded important.

"**_The Trial will commence!"_** Mithros called as _Violence, Discord, _and Phinity were escorted to the middle of the hastily clearing hall by a pair of black swathed figures, all wearing symbol-etched gold armor and black, feather-crested helmets with lowered visors bearing sun-in-circle emblems.

"Come on." Gainel said, taking her by the arm and steering her to the left of the Dais where the gold and silver thrones sat. Rows of identical chairs had mysteriously been conjured for those present to sit in. Standing directly to the right of Mithros and the Great Mother Goddess, on the dais, were the Ancient Gods: Mother Flame and Father Universe.

"Are those…constructs?" Lynn wondered to Gainel, not sure if she was reading them properly. Not only had she never heard of any gods that matched the description of theses figures, but neither did they _feel _like Gods.

"Yes." Gainel answered.

Lynn tried to watch the trial but she could keep herself awake no longer, despite the seriousness of the situation; she drifted to sleep.

_Providence fought with himself, but there was no other way to ensure the future that the Balance sought for him to convey. There would be more fighting, more suffering, and more sadness before the end. It was unfortunate but he would do what was needed. Providence stepped into the Realm of Chaos and began to lay the foundations for the future._


	25. Interlude 6

**SORRY GUYS! **I took something along the lines of a vacation from provy. I guys I just wore myself out, or something. And the fact I didn't get as many reviews as I'd hoped for made me sad…But I'm back hopefully. It'll definitely be a few days before an update but keep faith and hope. Here's a teaser. Nyx had this done ages ago but I neglected ot put it up.

Let's all say a great big thankies to my beta: **Nyx Nox Night!**

Oh, and I don't own this series. Or anything really.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed: I was too lazy to write my responces when I wrote this. I'll do a repost later. Promise!

**Please remember to review! Reviews make the world (or mine at least) go round!**

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

_Interlude 6_

_Rikash jerked awake, his breathing ragged from excitement, and fumbled out of his bed, nearly tripping over his own feet as he skidded across the floor to turn the corner to his parent's bedroom. Coming upon their door in seconds, he didn't bother to be polite, the light peaking through cracks between the door and frame proved Daine and Numair were still awake, even after Midnight; just as they had been all the last night and the night before that, every night since Lynn's abduction. Rikash's worry had been no less severe, somehow he'd managed to sleep the last two nights, albeit fitfully. He'd conjured the idea the morning before that that his Da was slipping sleep potion in his dinner. It had to have been a lot too, because he had barely eaten anything the last couple days. _

_Following Lynn's kid-napping, there had been a huge episode in which he had to spit out everything Lynn had told him and deal with his parent's reactions. Numair's reactions all came down to Lynn's lie and how it put her, and others, at unnecessary risk. Daine's was a sad sort of despair, although Rikash wasn't completely sure why. The strange thing was how neither of them really took the news as altogether miraculous, or unexpected. Too many things had happened to them in their lifetimes for the issue of a God and Mortal love-affair to be more than just uncommon; the fact that Daine's own Mother had experienced a similar situation was no doubt at the forefront of their minds as well._

"_I'd a feeling something like this would happen since she'd come back the last time." Daine had said worriedly, "Once a god has you, he doesn't let go. I just hadn't thought it would be…something like this. I hoped it wouldn't be, anyways."_

_Fancy, the strange bird Gainel had given to Lynn, had been recovered alive, Daine had been able to heal its wounds and it had taken to resting on Rikash's shoulder looking about accusingly for the-Gods-only-knew-what. In Lynn's absence she'd sort of adopted him. _

_Yanking the door open abruptly, he wore a grin while saying, "Ma! Da!"_

_Daine and Numair's faces were haggard as they looked up despondently from their late-night vigil. Their faces became confused at the sight of Rikash's happy expression. "What is it Rikash? You should be in bed…" his mother warned, worried for the well-being of the child she had before her, as a substitute for the one she had no power to help._

"_So should you, Ma," Rikash countered quickly before spouting, "Lynn's alright! She's okay!"_

"_What, is she back!" Numair asked._

"_No, Gainel told me; in a dream." He stated._

"…"

"_What?" Rikash prodded uncomfortably at his father's silence._

_Numair looked saddened, "It was probably just a dream, Rikash. That sleep potion does cause vivid dreams—"_

"_I knew you drugged me!" Rikash said angrily, "How could you do that?"_

"_Duke Baird **advised **we all get some sleep…"Numair tried to reason but was cut off._

"_Oh, so you can make decisions for me, and then ignore them for yourself—"_

"_Rikash. Your father was only looking out for your health. And your right: we should all get some sleep." Daine interrupted to calm the argument. "Are you sure it was Gainel? How did he appear? What did he say?"_

_Deciding there were plenty of other opportunities to row with his Da, he turn to his Ma. He knew it wasn't **just** a dream, and he had to convince his parents of that fact or none of them would have any rest. And if that didn't work he'd just slip some Sleeproot into his Da's tea. That would get back at him…_

"_Well, one second I was dreaming of...er, I was dreaming—" Rikash stuttered as his face turned pink upon remembering._

"_What were you dreaming of?" Numair questioned suspiciously at his son's behavior._

"_Er…I don't remember?" _

_Both Daine and Numair rolled their eyes, "Teenagers…" they simultaneously sighed, wearing knowing smiles as their eyes met._

"_Don't **label** me! I take offence to that remark!"_

"_You've been hanging around Naori too much; I'll have to tell Neal his offspring is a bad influence. You may continue Rikash." Numair told him. Rikash decided not to respond to the tease. At least his parents were loosening up; they had been as taut as a rope-walker's string a few moments ago._

"_As I was saying: I was dreaming and then suddenly everything stopped and I was in Shazdale meadow and Gainel was standing in from of me."_

"_What did he look like?" his father persisted._

"_He was even taller than you, Da. And he had black—**really** **black**—hair and he was very pale and he had a black coat…that's about it. Oh, and his eyes were rainbow-swirled." Rikash nodded, hoping the fact that he had said 'swirled' and 'rainbow' in the same sentence didn't make him sound stupid._

"_Gainel has starry, shadowed eyes." Daine told him, with her eyes closed, picturing her memory of when she and Numiar had met him in person._

"_Maybe he wanted a change?"_

_Daine chuckled slightly, "Maybe."_

"_Was he sad-looking?" Numair inquired._

"_No, why would he be sad? Whatever, just let me finish, okay? Anyways, so I was there. He said he was Gainel and he asked if I was Rikash: Lynn's brother. And I said 'yes, but wouldn't you know?' and he says he's just making sure, even Gods make mistakes some times. So I asked what I could do for him, and he hands me a letter and says it's from Lynn, he says she's alright but she won't be back for at least a couple more days and that he will get back to us later and then he left and it went back to the regular dream."_

"_He handed you a letter?" Daine clarified._

"_Well, yes, but it was in the dream, like I—," Daine and Numair were already rushing out the door and down the hall to Rikash's room. Arriving just behind Numair, he was in time to see his mother pick up a crisp white envelope bearing a wax seal with an open eye as its insignia._

"_Is this is the letter you spoke of son?" Daine asked him._

"_Yes…it is."_

_Daine broke the black wax seal and pulled out a letter which Daine read allowed:

* * *

_

**_Dear Mother, Father, and Rikash,_**

**_By now I'm sure Rikash has told you what I told him before my abduction. I was taken by Chaos-constructs but Gainel brought me back and Uusoae is, well I don't want to say dead, but she's been permanently stopped from using Chaos to do her bidding. That doesn't alter the fact that chaos itself is still out there and perfectly capable of manifesting a new God to ruin everyone's lives. Just thought you'd like a little bit of an update. I'll tell you more when I get back._**

**_I have to admit that I was injured during the recovery and I'm very tired. That's why they didn't take me home right away. Gainel says in a day or so he'll take me back if I want to go. That's what I wanted to ask you about: I want to know if you don't mind me staying a little longer; either way, the next time you three are asleep at the same time as I'm awake, Gainel is going to arrange for us all to meet and you can tell me then._**

**_I love you all,_**

**_Sarralynn Salmalìn_**

**_PS: Fancy came to see me while you were asleep Rikash. I don't need her anymore and she seems to like you a lot. She's free now, but I think she's going to hang around._**

**_

* * *

_**  
"_Well…" was all anyone would say._


	26. Part IV: Downtime

I'm not Tammy. But you already knew that. I don't own IT.

**Okay, Review time. **With all my lovely reviewers (that means you) I felt both incredibly loved and irritated that I had to take up so much effort to write you all responses. But I will. Because you're **WORTH IT**! That's it, feel the **LOVE**!

**Lady Merlin: **A new reviewer! Don't kill me please! For one my cats would be sad, for another you'd _never_ find out the end! I am torturous but at least I'm staying at it. I'm sorry it's been awhile, I hope you really like this chapter! Please review again!

**Person: **another new reviewer, yay! Look, I updated! I hope you like it, be sure to review it for me!

**Noc and NC: **Woah! Happy belated Birthday! I hope it brought you birthday-goodness. And yes, things are gonna get better, but of course the rest would be boring if nothing happened, so yes…something is going to happen…but not really in this chapter, although there is something akin to foreshadowing in my unworthy piece of literature. And I like Rikash too! Not as much as Gainel though. He's still my favorite. Unfortunately he doesn't appear in this chappy, (sigh). But anyways, I hope you like this chapter, and please continue to review me!

**James is mine: **Heya, Mage Queen! Nope, that was not the end, as you may or may not have guessed from that last chapter. Is there going to be an S/G pairing? Well…I suppose I can give you a little morsel of info…and say that this is going to become a means of conflict as 1) Sarralyn is a mortal and only the gods are allowed to live in the Divine realms and 2) something else which has not been disclosed yet is going to do something else which is also undisclosed (haha, yes I know that was uselessly cryptic) and 3) Mithros is going to get a little pissed-off at Gainel and maybe do some hindrance-work. Maybe. I haven't decided yet. So I'll leave the decision as to the S/G pairing up to you. Review again please!

**Ace Ryn Knight: **Wow, even better than Harry nekid? You must really like Rikash, (that's good, so do I. I'm continually trying to think of ways to get him into the story line!) I'm glad I made your month! As for your homework, I suppose that I'm supposed to say something about being good and responsible and that school work is important and blah-di-blah-blah…but you know what? I say 'Go Ace! You made the right choice! Screw homework, read my fan fiction and review instead!' So okay, that wasn't the most mature response, and all I can say now is glad you liked it, hope you like this, and review again! Woo hooo!

**Lady Knight 1512: **Tee hee, I had fun writing the big Great-Gods conversation in the chapter before last even if it was mostly filler and not that integral or necessary to the plot or anything, sometimes you just got to have fun, you know? And you liked it so there. I'm Justified. I'm glad you liked it. Hope you like this chapter, please review it!

**Sophia: **Wah? Weeping! I guess I better get my butt in gear. I can't have anyone crying over lack of updates. If it's any consolation, I know your remorse. I practically cry over the fack that my favorite stories remain un-updated day after day. Sigh. Well, I hope this helps, I'll try to be faster if I can, but I get moods where I'll write a whole bunch at once and then I'll have times when I can't even bring myself to type a word of the next chapter. Please review me again!

**Silveni: **The end? Nope! What else can happen? Oh, we haven't even _begun_ to explode the multitude of things that can go wrong. And you know what they say: whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Although I think Lynn and Gainel's are safe for now…I think…Mwahahahaha! Check **James is Mine's** review response for more insights into what is coming up in the future. I hope you like this chapter, please review!

**Feifiefofum:** I'm not even going to LOOK at that list Fei. Forward all your complaints to my Beta-reader **Nyx Nox Night.** But aside from that, yes, 'well' is classic. It's such a convenient way to end things, although I don't like to use it too often because it reveals how I hate trying to find decent ways to end chapters. I HATE having to write the end of chapters! It's HARD! Gah!

I'm sorry it took so long writing the chapters. The last one I had but I didn't want to post till I'd had a regular chapter to post with it, but the next chapter was giving me so much trouble it was taking to long, so I finally just posted. This chapter was kicking my butt for a while there, but I finally wrestled it into how I wanted it. I'll leave a little side note that might make you forget my past transgressions: Next chapter: contains vast quantities of Provy. Yeah, I knew you'd like that. Anyways, hope you like this chapter, and remember to review (but email your complaints to Nixy, It may be childish but once I send it off for her to beta, I hold no responsibility toward the state of it's grammar and spelling.) and remember that the special guests of this chappy have natural speech impediments, and give me a break.

**Nativewildmage: **Haha! My mom and my sister give me funny looks when that happens, too. I start cracking up and my sister is all like "stop laughing over your stupid fan fictions, you idiot!" and then I go off in a grandiose speak on how she couldn't possibly grasp the greatness of literature and somehow manage to go off on tangent and I forget what my point was, get back to my story and do it all over again. I LOVE that you LOVE my story! It makes me grin stupidly whenever I read the reviews! I hope you like the new chapter, please review again!

**Numair's Lover:** Nice to see me? Well, it's nice to be seen! Yes, the last was a short lil' thing, but this is one of the longer chapters. I hope it makes up for it a little. I promise I won't get tired of writing this story, I'm gonna stick it out as long as I have you guys to keep me going. And you can boss me around all you want, I just can't promise how I'll react, it'll be something sarcastic though, have no doubt. I hope this isn't too late to be considered soon. Please read and review the new chapter!

**Black Heart of Darkness:** New reviewer! Yes! Welcome! Sorry it took so long to get a new update. I hope you enjoy the new chapter, please review!

**Everyone review! PLEASE!**

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

_(Beta-reading done by Nyx Nox Night, thank you Nyxy!)_

**Part IV: Downtime**

Lynn slowly became aware of her surroundings as her mind drifted from the World of Dreams to consciousness. She pulled the sheets over her head and shifted under the covers to find a more comfortable position. Sighing in contentment she went back to sleep.

Gainel had somehow managed to bring her to his chateau by himself. He'd probably had to carry her, or maybe used some sort of godly-magic. By that time, Lynn was so tired that she couldn't spare a thought to wonder why they weren't at the trial. Apparently she'd mumbled something along those lines anyways, because once she awoke enough to realize what was going on, Gainel had said she'd slept through it.

A chiming cry had made her aware of Fancy's presence, and before she could doze off again, Gainel had manifested writing implements and parchment, and Lynn hastily scrawled a letter to her parents. It hadn't needed to be precise, they'd talk later when it wasn't a chore to keep her head up. Upon finishing, Gainel put the note into an envelope for her, then placed a stick of wax (mysteriously melted without the means of a fire) on the closed lip, and pressed into it a large ring she'd never seen before. The completed seal was that of an open eye; she remembered that very clearly.

She didn't really recall when or how she'd wound up in a bed, but she didn't really care. It was so comfy; she didn't want to leave it. Besides, the shape shifter was still so groggy that no device known to either Man or Immortal could have pried her lids open. Slowly however, the fogginess receded and she noticed how terribly weak she felt. Her muscles were liquid, and despite the warmth of her bed, a cold feeling periodically shot through her spine; a hyper-sensitivity and sickness invading her core.

Testing her eyes once more, she found them bleary and unable to focus, and trying to move her hands, they proved to be uncoordinated and they shook violently; not to mention that they were paler than she'd ever managed to be with both her parent's complexions on the darker side of the Luarin spectrum. After cataloging all of her ills, Lynn decided she felt terrible, but knew it could have been worse. She'd seen her brother, father and Thom suffer from sorcery-backlash sickness, and it made you sick just to _look_ at them in their pitiful states.

She shivered underneath her blankets, and tentatively placed a shaking, jelly-muscled hand to her forehead. As she'd suspected: she had a fever.

"Blanket?" a tiny voice piped from near her shoulder on the bed.

Blink.

Blink. Blink.

"Hello?" it piped again.

It was a…a thing; a gooey looking blackish thing; wearing a tin thimble like a cap on a protrusion that could have resembled a head. Next to said 'Thing', was a smaller 'Thing', but instead of a thimble, this one had a stick of crystal suspended inside its gelatin-like body.

The blinking continued until the smaller of the two bits of goop turned its knob of a head to the other, produced something that could vaguely be called a mouth and whispered, "Is she asleep?"

"No. Eyes open," the other whispered in return.

"Maybe sleep with eyes open?" the crystal imbedded one speculated.

"That's stupid! Can't sleep with eyes open!" the other shot down.

"_I_ sleep with eyes open."

"Darking don't have eyes!"

_Darkings…I've heard that before._ She mentally smacked herself. Alianne had a whole bunch of them in The Copper Isles, or Kypriang Isles, as they now called themselves. Lynn had seen them upon her visit, and her parents had told her stories of them, and how they'd been a key effort in the Immortals War. What were they doing here?

"You're Darkings?" she blurted.

"See! Awake!" the larger of the two said triumphantly, and the other somehow managed to look disappointed despite the fact it had made no contortion of its jellied body.

"What are you doing here? Do you have names?" she asked them.

"Quartz!" the Darking sporting the stick of crystal proclaimed grandly.

"Thimble," the other said, bowing its knobby head, "And Dream man asked us. Dragon Lands got boring."

"_Dragons_ got boring," Quartz clarified in a long-suffering tone.

"Really?" she'd always thought it would be wonderful to see a dragon. They hardly ever left their area of the Divine realms, known as the Dragon Lands, even with the barrier between the realms down again after the Immortals War. She wondered if they really were as stuffy as everyone made them out to be or if they had a legitimate reason for cloistering themselves away from the rest of the universe.

Forwarding this question to the Darkings, she was immediately surprised by the darkings' superior ranting abilities. The Darkings, apparently, could expound for _hours_ on the many boring qualities of the reptilian race. In fact, Lynn had half a mind to recommend they go to the university and take a debate class. She could see it now, the Darkings lined up in the front row. The sheer _awkwardness_ such a thing would cause was laughable. Beyond laughable. So beyond laughable she was already laughing, causing her companions to become indignant.

"No, no. I'm not laughing at you. I just thought of something funny. That was all." She defended herself and they changed tactics, pestering her to share her joke. She managed to hold out against the dynamic duo and keep the joke to herself; she didn't think they'd appreciate it the same way a human would. They'd probably demand to know what was so funny about it, and what she had against Darkings.

Eventually they gave up and turned to continue their dragon-bashing.

Lynn shivered and pulled up covers up to her chin. Her teeth were chattering. She didn't have burns anymore, but their effects on her body must not have fully worn off. This wasn't backlash-sickness; it was more like residual-bodily-memory sickness: the body _remembered_ it was supposed to be burned and was duplicating its effects on itself because of the extremity of the injury. Apparently Gainel hadn't had the same problem if he was traipsing around only hours afterwards or, wait…how long had she been out?

"—and Dragon's _always_ think you the one who caused trouble. Even when you _didn't_—" Thimble was saying.

"Yeah!" Quartz agreed, jiggling enthusiastically, "I _always_ blamed for steeling Rubyflame's pen. I was _borrowing_ it—"

"Um, guys, how long have I been here?" Lynn queried, not really sure if she _wanted _to know. With her luck it would probably have been weeks.

"Er…Thirteen hours?" Thimble petitioned, turning to consult with its companion.

"No, fifteen hours!" Quartz countered.

Thimble made a jiggling motion akin to a shaken head, and turned back to her saying decisively, "Fourteen hours."

"Thank you." Fourteen hours? That wasn't too bad at all. Now she just needed to translate that into Mortal Realm terms and pray to the Gods…or whoever…that it wasn't too ridiculous a time span. Or maybe it was too late for that?

Wait…hadn't Gainel offered to keep her there? Why did she care if it was a long time? She smiled religiously as she realized she really didn't have anything to be worrying about. Except for maybe…what they would do while they had this time together.

Lynn had never been the kind of girl that most of the ladies at court were: completely entranced by men and what was the newest gossip. But right now, she just felt like giggling to a best friend about all her fantasies, and she was almost disappointed that she didn't really have the opportunity to do so right now, she was alone except for the Darkings, and they had no gender and it would be difficult for them to put everything into context. Besides, there was nothing like the electricity between two females bent on entertaining conversation which was three parts incomplete information and two parts fantastical fabrication and imagination.

Not that she had much experience with the feeling, but not even the most book-nosed university-goer or shy-eyed little doe could make it through seventeen years of life without being dragged by the scruff of their necks into a girl-talk group at least once or twice, _especially_ if they lived at the palace more often then not.

Yes, even gloomy, boring, can't-pry-her-nose-out-of-a-book, can't-be-bothered-to-pay-attention-to-the-real-world Lynn could not manage to escape from a friend determined to chat her ear off. She'd been cloistered among a group of healthy gossipers at the sanctioned 'Vagina-proprietors' table at the Queen's Riders mess more than a time or two, and heard enough to make the most stalwart and knowledgeable pervert blush their ears off; Things that would put the questionable propriety of the table's nickname to utter and complete shame.

She was sure they had said most of it on purpose.

Some might say it was pathetic, but her best friend was probably her younger brother, and she only ever blathered at him when she felt he deserved punishment for some insipid crime against her that was neither important enough, nor annoying enough, to bring 'The Parents' in on the issue. She didn't really talk to anyone else very often if she could help it.

This being said, she was wondered where this need to spill her guts out and squeal was coming from. After a moment, she assumed it was probably something that was imprinted into her gender, and left it at that.

"Did Gainel leave a message or anything of that sort?" She asked the Darkings, (who had moved on from the **Why-dragons-are-boring** topic to the apparently even _more_ exciting **Which-dragon-is-the-most-boring**.)

"Message? Did Dream-man leave a message?" Quartz repeated, turning to Thimble for the answer, but the other Darking had already turned to Quartz for the same reason.

"Message?..." there was a pause as Thimble seemed to be deciding on a better way to present its answer. It apparently couldn't think of anything because its response was a rather cryptic, "er…Maybe?" in a tone that seemed to be asking _her_ what it should be saying.

And Lynn was fairly certain she wouldn't have asked if she'd known the answer.

"'_Maybe?_' what is that supposed to mean?" she badgered them in a slightly displeased voice. They should really have known if there was a message and what it was if it existed, as she suspected it did.

"Dream-man said something about…something," was Quartz's rather useless contribution, then turned to Thimble, continuing by adding an uncertain "Something about…clothes?"

All Thimble said was a repeated, "er…Maybe?" It didn't sound very confident.

Fortunately for Lynn, Quartz seemed to be picking up the slack by saying, "Yes, yes! Clothes. Dream-man said to tell Dream-lady—"

"_Dream-lady_?" she interrupted, not knowing how she should be reacting to this description. They weren't even courting…were they?

"Yes. You _are_ his lady, right?" Quartz prodded.

"Well, I-ah…ah…" she stuttered; why was this so complicated a question?

"_Ri-i-i-i-i-ght_?" the Darking pressed.

"Er…Maybe?" she spat out, caving under the pressure.

When all else fails, stick to the traditional phrases. She supposed she couldn't now blame Thimble for falling back on this ever so conversationally-distracting one. But she could however, blame Gainel for making her do the same. Lynn vaguely remembered a promise to have a talk, and as soon as he got back from whatever he was doing, she was going to make him sit down and explain. Logically. And in Order.

"_Anyways_, what did Dre—er, Gainel say?" Ack, now they had her doing it to.

"Dream-man say-_said_," it corrected; she wasn't the only one getting tongue-tied (jelly-tied? Did they have tongues?) "That when you wake up, the closet has clothes. And that he'd delivered your letter…and that he wouldn't be gone long."

"Anything else?" she asked the glob, more in jest than anything, but Quartz nodded and continued.

"Yeah, and that the sending outside the room will help you with anything you need. And that if anyone stops to visit, you should feel free to tell them to go away. Think Dream-man thought someone he didn't like might come," it shared.

Someone he didn't like? She wondered who that could be, although if yesterday was anything to go by, it could literally be anyone and everyone. Apparently Gainel was quite the druidic, privacy-loving bachelor.

Opening her senses to her surroundings, Lynn now easily saw the currents of power rushing everywhere. Unseen forces going about their work in layers and layers of dimensions, each spell and construct with its own unique design and function. So complex was the sight that it boggled the mind. And every single one had Gainel's mark on it, was infused with his essence, a little piece of that multihued light she'd seen emanating from his persona in a halo of power.

It was a humbling scene on her part. What was she to such radiance?

_He said I was everything to him. Gods can't lie, and Gainel wouldn't to me_. She told herself before her spirits could drop. This thought however, got her into a romantic mood. She thought it would have been a perfect opportunity to swoon dramatically, except that her prince-charming was currently absent.

Besides, she knew all of Tortall's princes personally and though they were nice enough, and not at all bad-looking, they just didn't compare.

Oh yeah, she had been checking in on the Sending situation. Yes, there it was, right outside the door. Maybe it could run her a bath? Reaching out with a thought, she got its attention easy enough, and the door immediately opened.

It was a small and colorful construct, with humanoid features of indeterminate gender. The Sending's face was completely hidden by an extremely elaborate head-dress and mask which was covered in shimmering, boldly hued fins, scales, and feathers, its tiny fingers and toes ending in enameled, claw-like nails. It looked like nothing so much as a child in a ceremonial tribal costume.

The Sending cocked its head in question.

Requesting a bath wasn't difficult, and it nodded good-naturedly even as the Darkings shot it annoyed glances, angry that it was trying to take over their charge. The construct disappeared, then returned a moment later to usher her through the halls, with only a little bit of help, thank-you-very-much, to the floor below where there was a very beautifully tiled bathing room with large ceiling windows and potted plants everywhere.

The décor was definitely nice but she was paying more attention to the hot water which was doing wonders for aching limbs, seeping into her core and chasing away the sickly shivers she'd been suffering. Breathing in hot steam, she had half a mind to sit in there all day.

She briefly entertained a scenario where Gainel came back and—well. Lynn dunked her head under the water telling herself she shouldn't be thinking things like that. After all, she was _mature_.

_Yeah, tell that to my blushing face,_ she thought savagely, blowing air bubbles as she squealed into the heated liquid. Sometimes maturity was overrated. Damn a five year habit of suppressing runaway daydreams; indulgence was _so_ what she needed right now.

After a few more relaxing minutes in the bath, Lynn sighed, realizing it was probably rude for her to leave the Darkings alone for too long a period of time. Not to mention that their inquisitive natures might lead them to get into mischief. With that in mind, she bid the baths a reluctant adieu, accepted a robe from the Sending, and followed it back to the room she'd woken in.

Sarralyn was welcomed back enthusiastically by the Darkings, and she listened idly to their squeaky voices as she made her way across the room, wet hair leaving a trail of droplets on the floor. She opened the closet, not really knowing what to expect, to find—

—Nothing. It was empty.

She blinked. _Well_, she thought, _now what?_ It wasn't as if she could keep dripping herself all over the place. When she'd woken up, she hadn't been in her other clothes, but a cotton nightgown stripped with ribbons instead. And besides, the sending had taken that away, even if she'd wanted to change back into it.

Closing the door to the wardrobe room with a sigh, she leaned against it, staring at the wall and trying to pretend that a sickly feeling wasn't creeping back into her system.

What she needed, was something comfortable for a lay-about day; even she knew that she probably shouldn't be on her feet so soon after that ordeal. But then she still wanted to look nice for Gainel once he got back…she groaned let her head go suddenly limp, then straightened it, knocking the back of her head against the closet door in frustration.

Could she ever just _not_ think and worry about things? Why couldn't she be care-free, air-headed and dumb? _You could, but you don't want to_, the traitorous voice told her. She had to agree, because if she hadn't been such a curious child she would never have stumbled upon that opening into the Dream realms so long ago. And also she could hardly see Gainel liking anyone who was anything short of genius intellect. This made her wonder why he tolerated her.

"I just want something decently comfortable to wear!" she grumbled.

Lynn flinched as she felt a strange shuffling from within the closet. She frowned and backed away from it, watching the door suspiciously. No audible or visual disturbance could be distinguished, but threads of unseen power were feeding some energy to the empty wardrobe closet.

_Formerly_ empty wardrobe closet. She flung the door open and found that it now housed an array of clothes for both genders and in all sizes. In fact, the only thing about them that was remotely similar was that they all fell under the broad category of 'decently comfortable'.

A smile crept onto her face as she closed the doors: Trust Gainel to have a magic wardrobe in the room she was staying in. She thought she knew what to do now and, projecting her thoughts on what she was looking for, she waited for the magic to settle, and then opened the doors again to find something more her style, although it took a few more tries to get the size measurements right.

Finding herself dry and fully clothed in a shirt and pair of breeches that were both soft _and_ of fashionable cut, she sunk back on top of the bed that had somehow been made up again to wonder how things could get any better.

She felt magic shifting as the essence of a God other then Gainel made itself known and the Realm and everything within it turned its attention upon the intruder. If this was how Dream always was to outsiders she didn't really blame them for not coming very often. It was like walking through a room full of silent, glaring people; very disconcerting. At least it wasn't aimed at her.

Shivering, she suddenly began to feel veryill indeed: nauseous even and sickeningly week limbed. A small whine escaped her as she rolled over on the bed and said a muffled, "I don't think Gainel wants you to be here."

There, standing in front of the window, was Apfel, self-proclaimed Goddess of Love and Karma in all her radiant splendor and in full blandish mode.

As she struck a pose, Lynn frowned at the goddess. An unnatural amount of sunshine poured through the windows and bird calls could be heard twittering in the background though no winged creatures were in sight. Gainel would _not_ approve of her messing with the atmosphere of his home and realm.

"Ooooo-oo-oo!" the Darkings admired.

"Dream-man's place _much_ more fun than _Dragons_!" Quartz whispered to Thimble, who nodded its gelatin-like head in agreement.

"Hello my acolyte of Love! Is thy Patron present?" she asked sweetly with a smile like a fox. She was definitely up to something, absolutely guilty.

"You know he's not," Lynn answered, wincing as her stomach took a jump.

"Oh, I'll just wait for him, then," Apfel said as if disappointed, and she sat down in a red silk, upholstered chair that Lynn _knew_ hadn't been there before. The goddess turned to twiddle her fingers at the two Darkings who looked entranced, spouting a little, "Hell-oo!" They responded like zombies.

"Hello."

"Hello."

"I see you have company. What's the occasion? Gainel hardly ever has visitors." She drew herself up indignant, blood red and pale cream skirts shifting as she crossed her ankles. "He's been holding out on me! My own brother!" she declared with her lower lip suck out in a pouting expression. Lynn half-expected her to swoon dramatically in a supercilious parody of a faint.

She didn't. What she _did_ do was pull out a handkerchief from somewhere, dab her eyes as if she was about to cry then said with a few sniffles, "I always knew he needed a good woman to set him straight! Oh, Lin-Lin, I knew you could do it!" Then in a half-embrace, half-tackle, she hugged Lynn, who paled at the random usage of her childhood nickname.

Was this _real_? How was she supposed to react?

Lynn was stopped (saved?) from having to decide as she had a violent gag-reflex and Apfel pushed the spluttering girl over to the bed. Oh Mithros, she felt _awful_.

"You're sick?" Apfel asked her confusedly.

Lynn nodded as she struggled to keep her mouth closed against her bodily instincts. "I was feeling pretty bad when I woke up, but it went away; then right when you came I felt nasty again; worse." Lynn choked out.

Apfel frowned "Lay back down, no use making it worse. It's probably just a stomach flu. Gods don't get ill, but I have known a few wayward mortals to do so here in the divine realms, and the germs here are the Gods of germs. They work faster. Humans. So excitable." She scoffed haughtily.

She lay back down on the bed and the Darkings handed her blankets and she curled up underneath them as Apfel spouted some gossipy nonsense. Lynn might have wanted to chat before, but that compunction was completely gone now, so she tried to just listened.

Unfortunately, Apfel was _determined_ to draw her into the conversation.

"So…you and Gainel have a chat yet?" she asked too casually.

"No, I just woke up."

"Oh, that's right. You missed the trial. You might want to know that _Violence_ and _Discord_ were sentenced to imprisonment within their realm. Phinity got off. She's been instated as a goddess of Logic in the Tortallan area. It will be quite some time before she's strong enough magically to appear in the human realms enough to gain any influence. She's going to have to get used to being a minor goddess." Apfel smirked, "A _very_ minor goddess."

Well, Lynn hadn't liked her much anyways. And anything looked better than going back into that wasteland they called a Realm. "Are _Violence_ and _Discord_ the Top Gods of Chaos now? Since Uusoae is gone." She wondered.

Apfel shrugged, "Yes, I suppose; unless someone deposes them, or Chaos makes a new incarnation. Either way, it will be a long time before they bother our realms again. I _am_ so looking forward to the vacation. I invited Phinity to tea tomorrow; I want to invite you and my brother and maybe some other minor being, I have to go through and find someone to match with her. It'll be simply grand! Please say you'll come! Please?" she begged.

Lynn was shocked: a _God_ was _asking_ her to a _tea_ _party_. "Oh, I don't know…" she managed to spit out. Apparently Apfel had very human tendencies.

The goddess huffed, "Fine. I suppose I'll have to find another way of make him come, since his bonded is being uncooperative…"

Lynn frowned. That word again; it was everywhere! Now was her chance to get the truth. "Bonded. What is this 'bonded' thing you all keeping talking about?"

The Love Goddess immediately pouted, "I don't know if I should say…Gainel said he'd tell you. You should just wait until he's finished. He's having a little chat with our parents right now. He's so lucky: he's the favorite."

Later, later, it was always _later_. Gainel better hurry his dreamy-ass up. "Isn't there _anything_ you can tell me now?" she realized she was whining, but she didn't care. She wanted answers.

"No," Apfel said firmly, and then seemed to get an idea. It must have been good too, because she was grinning like a fox. "Unless…you promise to go to my party…"

"I'll just wait then."

"Aww! You're no fun!"

_The being known as Providence continued to watch the pair, striving to see the lines of fate, destiny and choice and how their interactions would manifest themselves in the future. It strived to find someway to set the course of the events that needed to take place for what the Balance demanded, but he could find none so apparent as to need little coaxing. And this saddened him for he knew he would have to intervene once again._

_But he had little doubt that they wouldn't thank him for it. Was it right to destroy a life to create a new one? There was a part of him that cared, but he knew he had no choice._


	27. Part IV: Unbalanced

Disclaimer: I actually happen to own a lot of this, including the plot and a couple characters, although most of it goes to Tammy Pierce. If you want the rights, take it up with her. And don't sue me.

**Reviews!**

**Silveni:**

Ha, you liked the dreamy-ass remark? I liked the pun, didn't know if anyone else would by hey, it's my story. I like how lyn is turning out, she was a little Mary-Sue in the beginning I'm planning on doing the rewrite and there will be a lot more personality in Lyn near the beginning and I'm going to add a whole section for in between those five years. And I'm going to Try to make Gainel's love not seem so sudden but more gradual. I want to her to be more balanced with Gainel as well. Anyways Glad you liked it. Don't hurt yourself on this one laughing. I dunno if it's funny or not but hey, it's good to be safe, right? Read and review!

**Noc and NC:**

Umm, I can safely say no. I'm not going to have them breed and then have one of them or their family killed off. I'm not that cruel, all though I am rather maniacal in my blatant disregard for decently spaced updates. I'll admit that one. And you're reading a little too much into the whole tea party. It's NOT. A. TRAP. IT. ISN'T. SOME. UNDERHANDED. PLOT.

It's a tea party.

With Gainel and Lynn and Apfel and Phinity and maybe someone else we know.

Or don't know.

Either way, you'll have to see Mwahahahah!

Read, Review, Enjoy.

**Nativewildmage:**

Oh good. You do it too. So I'm not completely gone. You seem sane enough…I think.

Just Kidding.

Anyways, I'm Glad you love that Chapter, I liked it too. I actually like this one a lot more, so maybe you'll love this one as well.

Sorry it took so long please review!

**Acanthopis: **(You're New!)

Ha! I HOOKED you! You cannot resist the charm and allure that is my wondrous creation. No, I'm not really that conceited, but thanks a lot. That's the best complement you can give to a writer. You're hooked and want more. Yes, another cliffie, I _am_ sorry, but I can't resolve something in every chapter. At least I didn't leave you smack in the middle of something dramatic. It's not a plateau or anything. It's not a mesa. Not even really a cliff, more like a ledge or the top of the monkey bars sort of deal. So you see I _am_ thinking of you guys here. I'm not going to lie and say everyone can write awesomely. Because I've read some class-A crap (Trust me it's so painful sometimes. You might even have had the experience yourself. Gyah!), but at least you're willing to admit your faults. Doubtless you must be a pretty good reader, right? See, there you go. And if you want to improve your writing, you have to read _a lot_ and practice writing _a lot_. You can always get better!

Thanks for reviewing, here's a chappy! Review again PLEASE!

**Nyx Nox Night**:

More Kick ass Darkings in this'in'hiss'in! Like my ebonics there? I dunno what I was going for either. I should delete it…but I won't. You're an awesome Beta Nyxy keep it up and I will be eternally grateful!

**Lady Knight 1512:**

All I can say is I'm not an idiot. Not usually anyways. So that might answer some sort of question. And I wouldn't treat you like that! I love you all too much! Gainel is in this one. It's all Gainel, baby.You'll get all the Gainel you can stand. Well maybe not that much but hey: you can never have too much Gainel. And he shows his soft side in this chapter. His hearts melting, it's so great.

Yup, Noble Lady (mixed with a little Pouts-Air-Head-Female and Love Doctor/Matchmaker) from the Medieval Ages. Exactly what I was going for, glad I succeeded thanks! Yes, Kitten was with Daine, but I thought I remembered it mentioned that she went to live with the other Dragons for awhile? If I'm wrong I can take that sentence out, no big deal. And I thought I recalled that Daine was uncharacteristically dark because of Weiryn's side of the family? I'll check the book later; I'm too lazy right now. I know what you mean about accuracy, I'm critical about it, too. And I think I mentioned that any reviewers should tell me about anything that was un-canon or resembled a plot whole, so no worries. That's still true. I want to know about that stuff; Inconsistencies, as well.

Thanks for reviewing please do so again!

**Ace Ryn Knight:**

You're so funny ARK.

Review.

Please.

And you guys get to see Gainel even if Lynn doesn't.

**Lady Merlin**:

Sorry I get CONFFUUUUUUUUUUUUSED

Easily.

And godamnit I want the confrontations too, they just haven't caught up to the plot yet. Yes, it's tearing us all apart Nyahhhh!

Okay,

My temporary lapse of sanity has subsided. I'm okay now. There will be confrontation. But it will be more like Uncomfortable Silence than Jerry Springer.

I think.

I haven't decided yet.

But I can safely say that Numair won't be waiting for Lynn to come home in Gainel's Yaris, while in his garage polishing his fire-arms collection. Mostly because neither fire-arms nor garages nor cars exist at this point but hey, it's a fact.

Read, Enjoy, Review.

And Anticipate the Confrontation.

…

Wait…

There is a conversation with Darkings…

Does that count as confrontation?

**Feifiefofum:**

I Know I LOVE HIM! Especially after this chapter. He actually has a face. He's so sweet I love 'im…sigh. He's risen in ranks above Rikash now, I'm thinking. He's so talented. And yes, you know what that means. We SEE PROVY. He TALKS to US—well, actually to Gainel but, whatever—He has a VOICE. Which WE HEAR!

And I don't know if you guys will like how I see him. It's all lot different than your description Fei. I seem to remember you mentioning something about him being a fat guy?

Well he's not.

Not even close.

And Fei, a little _innuendo_ there! You know, I should have seen it coming but I didn't.

You got me.

It was funny.

I laughed.

And so far no one's really guessed what's going down. Everyone keeps thinking someone's going to die but that's not quite it. But Shit happens I can guarantee that. I'm thinking that no one will be mad at me when this thing is over. I actually have the last scene in my head, it's pretty great. You guys will like: I promise. This chapter gave me the idea. You might be able to guess it from it.

Read and review please!

**Black Heart of Darkness:**

It's explained NEXT Chapter. Not this one, sorry. But on one of the chapters in the reviews, I think addressed to Fiefeifofum, I explain it a little. A lot actually. You can get a jump ahead if you read it. It's this big long technical paragraph in which I try to pretend I'm smart and everything. Yeah.

And didn't you know? Provy doesn't make mistakes, he's Provy, Damnit! He's too cool to fail! But in all seriousness, he could mess-up; he actually addresses this subject in this chapter. Yes, Provy does _himself_. We get to _see_ him! It's a landmark Chapter!

In the words of Fei: Provy Kicks Ass.

**Read & Enjoy & Review!**

Everyone, that day has come: The day we officially get to meet Provy. He's so sweet, I love him. Fei was right, Provy _is_ cool.

**Providence Smiles**

By LGR

_(Beta-reading done by Nyx Nox Night: Thank you Nyxy! I actually put this up before I got her e-mail back, I'll repost when I do!)_

**Part IV: Unbalanced**

Dropping away from the mortal's dream, Gainel was back in the core of his Realm, emerald lawn, formal garden and large chateau easily visible to even the mortal eye. He'd given his Realm a good once-over to make sure everything was still running smoothly, (it was), delivered Lynn's letter to her brother (the work of but a moment), and then found that he really had _nothing_ he needed to do. The Dream King was at loose ends.

Up until just recently, he'd been using his free time to fall into deep meditation to get away from his emotional stress, but that wasn't so much of an issue anymore. He'd said it: he had admitted to himself, and in that moment, to everyone who cared to notice, that he was indeed in love with a mortal; with Sarralynn. It was such a strange situation, because most Gods did not usually love in this fashion, and once again he found himself contemplating what was so different from him and the others?

Maybe he wasn't so different from them; or them from him. Mithros and the Goddess really did have a loving relationship: he had seen it, even if the clues were few and far between. As if they were hiding it even. And Apfel was definitely all for Love and even Lust, in more than just an elemental way: she'd had many a fling with a mortal or two in the early days before settling on their brother the Black God and the vast array of emotions she displayed were not always facades. And then there were Weiryn and Sarra who were as loving and devoted as any human couple, and though Sarra had once been mortal, Weiryn most certainly never was.

Even so, it was hard for him to imagine any of them feeling the depths of sentimentality that he did. Or maybe he wasn't nearly as good as them at hiding it? And with sadness, he thought that it could even be possible that the countless ages of mortal death had driven out their ability to fully become attached to or to care about them beyond how they could be used to manipulate the future, even as he remained cut off from human interaction.

Indeed he pitied them, but there was still no contest between his situation and theirs. They'd never had to feel the depression and loneliness that he had suffered; it was not something they'd have been able to hide from the King of Dreams because Gods both slept and dreamed as mortals did, though rarely, and he would not have been able to ignore the presence of a mind as lost in desolation as his own.

But it wasn't their fault, and that time was past.

He took a deep breathe and smiled slightly. Now that he'd tasted of happiness, he didn't ever want to go back, and he was resolved not to. Gainel would make sure that Lynn was happy and safe, no matter what it took, and if she really did love the brooding Dreamer, then he wanted to be with her always.

Gainel sighed, that was the only problem: Lynn was a mortal and technically speaking, she shouldn't be here; the Divine realms were for the Divine. The only reason Daine and Numair were not returned to the Living realms immediately during the Immortal's War, was the fact that all of the gods had been quite preoccupied with holding Chaos from invading and consuming everything within the Universe. At that time, a wayward human or two was insignificant by comparison.

Now however, there was no such distraction, and though the fact that they were quite obviously a bonded pair, proclaimed by the love goddess herself, gave him a little leeway, there was still only so much he could do before Mithros would make him send her back.

_There **has** to be a way around this_, he thought optimistically for once, _besides her **dieing**, obviously_. He couldn't bear to see her die; for one thing a mortal would only be accepted into the Peaceful Realms by the Black God if they died in the Living Realms (This was the main reason Mortals weren't allowed in the Divine Realms: for their own safety and the safety of their souls,) for another thing, humans were very integrated into their bodies and when they lost them there were severe effects on the mortal in question, and even when they were given a divine body, they didn't always adapt very well. Besides that, very few humans were eligible for said transplant: there were special qualifications pertaining to the condition and characteristics of the human, mentally, magically, and spiritually that had to be met or else there was no possible way that transcendence would work.

Indeed, Weiryn had been _very_ lucky. Not only had Sarra met all these qualifications, but her soul had come out of it relatively unscathed, although she had not managed to escape acquiring eccentric and vague tendencies, often staring off into the distance and forgetting what she was doing, or suddenly remembering something she needed to do; times of impassiveness, or emotional outbursts that were quite unlike her human self from what Weiryn and Daine seemed to remember. Gainel supposed that overwhelmed, unadjusted, and high-strung would be the best description for the minor-goddess.

This might sound fairly major, but these were the types of symptoms that went away eventually and were not always immediately apparent. But even so, Sarra would never be the same as she was in the Living realms, one way or another.

Gainel was determined for Lynn not to go through such an experience, not even for the chance of being together for eternity would he risk her destruction, he would much rather her rest in the Peaceful Realms, drifting into serenity and forgetfulness, but safe and whole.

Besides, even as he thought of it, he realized this was no alternative. The requirements for transcendence were thus: blood descent from the Gods, a strong Elemental affinity, a mortal life lived to maturity, a Balance in Chaos and Order, a divine patron willing to speak for them, a position for them to fill, the skills to fill said position, and a strong soul both worthy and able to adapt to a Divine body.

On her mother's side alone, she was a fourth Godly, and her father had possibly the most powerful Gift in the Mortal Realms; the Gift was a sign of Divine blood, for it was by the union of gods and mortals that it was introduced to humans, and the stronger the Gift, the more prevalent the blood of the deities. In this way Lynn was more than qualified. And she also had a very strong elemental affinity; to choice and ability to change no less, which he had never heard of before, but it was powerful enough to counteract at least one of the restrictions of his element. With the securing of their bond he was no longer barred from the Living realms, though he had yet to test this influence.

She had not, however, lived her life to maturity. She was only seventeen, and most humans did not reach their peek until their mid or late twenties. And she'd had only a tentative balance of her chaotic and orderly energies: The more Godly blood, the more likely the body will reject the large amount of chaos inherent in humans. She might have been fine before, but she coughed quite a bit up while in the Chaos Realm. Who knew whether this would stabilize her, or add to the strain?

And though he was definitely willing to speak for her, he didn't know what sort of position she would have the skills for or whether one was open. And there was no way to tell how a soul would react to being transplanted until one did it. But all the clues pointed to her not taking it well. She was very securely planted in her body, despite the fact it fought itself even as she was in it, she had to be or else she would not be able to do the things she did: shape-shifting, phasing, healing herself. One needed to understand and be very aware and attached to their body.

Lynn failed to meet no less than five of the qualifications.

But why was he thinking such morbid thoughts? He didn't want to contemplate that inevitability, there had to be a loophole, and while Lynn was still asleep, he'd go find it.

He checked to make sure that she _was_ indeed still in slumber, although his senses had told him it would be so even before he saw her. Gainel wasn't caught up on what the fads of beauty were in Tortall, and he suspected that though she could never be called ugly, wasn't the prettiest girl at court either. But it really didn't matter to him; he thought he would love her even if she were hideous, even without an elemental attraction that drew them together even before they'd known each others hearts or minds. And looking at her, he realized she _was_ beautiful to him. She had something a raving beauty never would, a uniqueness that could never be captured in perfection.

Lynn looked to him, as if her true-self were a secret, and that any glimpse she gave you should be cherished. She always seemed to be holding back, and belittling herself. If only she could see what he did when she tentatively smiled up at him…Well, he supposed it was a good thing Lynn didn't, because there was no doubt that she fall madly in love with herself, and where would that put him? He was probably lucky at that.

Gainel sighed. He loved all of her, body, mind and soul. Even the parts she hadn't showed him yet.

Immediately upon thinking this, he realized he wasn't just talking about parts of her personality…he should go before he did something immoral.

He was as about to leave when he realized he didn't want her to be alone when she woke up. What if she got bored? Or wanted to talk? Or needed something that the constructs didn't understand? Providence knew they weren't very good conversationalists, efficient as they were. Something more human would be better.

Of course this was the Divine realms for good reason and he'd be loathe to find another human around, but he thought he knew where to find the next best thing…

—Or at least a good alternative…chatty, anyways.

On the border of the Divine realms and the Dragon Realms, was a small area very recently created that was inhabited by a community of round lumps of jelly: The Darkings. This was where he found himself, with the trumpeted calls of the nearby dragons easily heard in the atmosphere, and the sparkling caves, valleys and grottos of those amazing creatures.

The Darkings had a bustling little town that could even be called a city. Their homes were not made of wood, as it was difficult for them to use and make metal tools to harvest lumber, as well as the physical power to use said tools, and instead they were of molded adobe and could be quite elaborate.

These homes were too small for him to fit in, and he didn't particularly feel like shrinking himself, (he would never confess, not even under the most potent of torture, but he was quite afraid of standing next to a relatively giant mass of goop.) So he stood outside a pile of sticks that had been tied together with thick twine into a sort of barrier, (comparable to a fence, although it looked quite primitive beside their amazingly modern homes) that surrounded the city of adobe houses, some of which reaching up to his shoulder with three floors and nice lawns and formal gardens.

Little gloops (yes, he referred to a group of Darkings as a gloop) of Darkings, both large and small were jiggling around everywhere going about their business, a few saw him and wiggled off to inform the headsman as just about every other Darking in the area also noticed him and converged at his feet trying to force him into conversation.

As determined as they were, they were no match for his dull façade, and even their combined influence could not compare with his eons of experience with dodging _actually having to communicate_ with another person, by being as unassuming and uninteresting as possible. In fact, one could argue that he had _invented_ the inconspicuous-loner-lifestyle. Not many people could say that.

So he answered questions as curtly and unremarkably as possible while still remaining friendly and most began to loose interest in him as a large Darking wearing a gold ring like a miniature circlet, oozed up and the rest of the Darkings started hooting and cheering in their squeaky voices.

It took considerable effort to remain straight-faced as they proclaimed the ring-bearing glob, whose name was Halo, their Dar-_King_. It was even more laughable, as it was made clear that the Darkings' idea of a monarch was nothing like the human version. For one thing, they had no problem with interrupting and arguing with their King. This was revealed as even with the now subdued crowd of globules, it took an amazing amount of time for things to quiet down enough for him to speak and be heard. And even then there was quite a bit of whining going on as background noise to the dialogue.

Dream King faced Dar-King.

"Hello," was the opening greeting.

"Hello," he said back. Even if they were tryingly curious and impatient, the Darkings's simplicity and openness was refreshing compared to the snake-pit that was the Court of the Gods, "I'd like to ask if any of your subjects have the time available to come to my Realm and look after someone for me while I am away."

This remark set the fox among the chickens.

"Your realm?"

"What realm?"

"Fun! Fun!"

"Darkings quiet! Quiet!" Halo ordered, the Darkings grudgingly obeyed, "What Realm and for how long, please…er…" the little King realized he didn't know who their visitor was.

"Gainel." he supplied. Excited cries rang through the crowd. All of them seemed to know not only who he was, but that he was Master of the Dream Realm which, they gathered, must be quite the funnest place ever, and they all wanted to go there.

"It will only be for a day, I am thinking." He added. Every Darking in the city seemed to be there, and they were all asking, and some even seemed to be demanding, that he pick them to go along with him.

"Okay, Darkings accept, but what will Dream-man do for Darkings?"

Aw, that Halo, he was a sly one.

"I will offer anything within my power and within reason," He answered.

Suggestions were shot off by little mouths working a mile a minute, each more ridiculous then the last, from miniature pink ponies to flowers that lit on fire. Halo seemed to be seriously considering, as his expressionless form sent out thinking-vibes. Suddenly, he declared that he knew what to ask for, and the Darkings grew silent with anticipation as Halo announced his decision.

"Two Darkings go with Dream-man, and if they like Dream Realm, then Dream-man will let Darkings make a Darking-town in his realm!"

All the Darkings seemed to think this was the absolute best idea ever, and cheered the very smug looking Halo for thinking of it.

Gainel suspected that the Darkings didn't fully understand what they were asking of him. Land was a great commodity, wars were fought over it. It was worth far more than a simple watch-over assignment. On a more personal note, if he agreed to these terms, he would be allowing someone, (a _large_ group of 'someone's,) into _his_ realm; into _his _space. Gainel was a home-body and hated to have anything foreign enter into his refuge. He'd been using his realm for ages as a barrier between him and everything else.

Was this worth that? Probably not, he decided, in fact everything in his being was yelling at him to give them a superior and icy 'NO!'

Because of this, he wondered why for some reason he was drawn to consent, despite the fact that he was internally _shuttering_ at the thought of having these chatterboxes as neighbors. A little voice in his head said "you have an infinitely vast realm; surely you can spare some room for them?"

And it had absolutely nothing to do with the din of begged, "Please? Please?" and aura of heartfelt hopefulness emanating from the entire lot of them. Or so he told himself.

Damn his conscience.

Somehow, he could feel absolutely no guilt over coldly rejecting the company of, say, Mithros, or even Apfel, but these little blobs of blackish goo, turned his will power to mush. Thinking back, he supposed he really was something of a hypocrite, wanting relationships without taking the time to create them; it was just that everyone with whom a relationship could be made wouldn't have done so because they genuinely liked him, but because he was Gainel Dream-King and a powerful influence to have on your side. He didn't want any part in political nonsense.

Also, none of them seemed to have anything in common with him and those 'relationships' were not only nonexistent, but generally impossible. He and most other Gods had trouble relating. He didn't have a mortal following, he kept track of goings on in the Living Realms, but generally wasn't able to make a lasting impression or influence in it's future, and had no desire to rise up in the Divine ranks, assuming there was a higher rank possible than Great God, which there wasn't.

He guessed that the reason he had so much trouble saying no was _because_ of their sincerity. Gainel knew they would see it for its beauty the way he did, his own home never changed, but the rest of the landscape most certainly did so and on a daily basis, they would be hard pressed not to remain occupied. His Constructs were ever diligent and never faltered or went rogue, but stray snatches of dreams escaped all the time, even with his creations to manage them.

"Hmm…" he considered for a moment more.

"Please, please?"

"Provided you find it to your taste, I am willing to give a portion of my realm for Darking usage."

There was a resounding cheer by the entire Darking population which soon turned from praise to begged demands for him to pick one Darking or another to accompany him. He (wisely) delegated this task to Halo, thus removing himself from the spotlight for the time being.

This had better not get out, or he'd have people dropping in on him like crazy. And damn, he supposed he'd have to change his warding system. A neurotic feeling of paranoia and eyes watching you likely fell under the Darkings' class of things that were 'Not Fun'.

He kept wondering what he'd just gotten himself into even as he took the two Darkings Halo had chosen, introduced them to the sleeping Lynn, gave them the message about the closet and the sending, noticed Apfel had left her own message by way of a glowing white dove, and warned Thimble and Quartz that someone might be coming and they should tell Lynn to feel free to kick this person out. And that was that.

Finally he could begin his search to solve this Mortality-issue. And he knew exactly where to start.

Brushing aside Realm after Dimension after Realm, he left the inhabited areas of the universe behind to that sacred birthplace of the First Gods, where the Ancient Gods came into existence and then created the Realms which he knew today. This area was infinitely Vast, much more so than any of those containing gods and men. He supposed one day, Mother Flame and Father Universe might decide to create another Realm altogether, and start over again with more beings and other gods.

He supposed he would be even busier. Dream was one of the few Realms that were inherently superimposed within and without every other realm, even this vastness, although there was nothing here _to_ dream at the moment.

Blackness, interrupted by tiny pin pricks of light everywhere, and in the center, Mother Flame's Hearth, where she cultivated the Living Fire used in the making of that Knife that _Violence_ had nearly beheaded him with. The Hearth itself bled into the Living realms, giving its inhabitants the ability to create new life. Without the sacred fire, nothing could be born.

The Great Gods were created by Mother Flame using the Living Fire in the Beginning and so were the most powerful. All of the other gods had been created second-handedly, by the Great Gods using their own life-forces, or by the influence of the Humans themselves. With less of the Living Fire, they were no where near as powerful. It was a rift so wide no amount of energy given by one's followers could truly breach it.

"_**Ah, thy Son, thou hath come once again to see'eth thee."**_ Mother Flame said, turning from her hearth. She smiled softly, her eyes still holding empathy and understanding despite their likeness to burning embers. Warmth radiated outward from her presence, and light danced from her being, she was a beautiful sight to behold: a woman of pure fire.

"Yes, Mother, I came to ask you about something." He told her simply.

"**_Aye, thy heart doth resemble an open book,"_** she confessed to him amusedly.****

_Am I really that obvious?_ He thought, _apparently so, or maybe Mother Flame just knows me that well._

She went on, **_"Ages ago, thou wouldst come to thee and ask after thy consort, and thee couldst not respond to thy satisfaction. Wait, thou wouldst tell thee, and thee hath done so. The Future art still a mystery to thyself with all thy power, but thy waiting, it seems, hath come to an end."_**

He sighed, that was as good an admission that Lynn was meant to be his consort as he would get, but this didn't answer his question.

"The waiting yes, but Sarralynn is mortal, how do I ensure that we can stay together?"

"**_Thou art afraid that thy question is not within thy knowledge, thy son,"_** she said, **_"Thou shouldst have faith in The Balance and Providence, for tis in thy belief that thy situation wilt endeth well."_** She finished.

It was slightly ironic. For someone to tell a _god_ to have _faith_ but he supposed it was all he could do for now. Unless…

"Thank you Mother, I'm afraid that I'm skipping out on you. I'll come back to visit soon." He told Mother Flame.

"_**Yes, and thou shouldst bringeth thy Lady as well."**_

"Yes, of course, farewell."

Stepping out of his mother's hearth, he set his path to another place, one of the few others that permeated all realms at once other than his own. Shifting, he stepped out into blackness which was only interrupted by the glowing of an enormous set of ivory scales, more than thirty feet tall, shaped like a woman clothed in a garment of wrapped cloth holding two water jugs, one in each arm. At this point the jug in her right hand was held much higher than the one in her left. This was the side of Good.

"_The world is unbalanced," _softly echoed a male voice.

"Yes." Gainel said noncommittally. He'd seen it the way the scales were tilted. Most people would belief that this situation was a good one, but Providence and The Balance didn't see it this way. If the world was tilted too much to the side of Good, eventually the scales would violently balance themselves but swinging the tilt towards evil. The world was most stable, less likely to change dramatically, when it was balanced.

"_You wanted something,"_ It wasn't a question.

"Yes, I did. I wished to ask you something, though I do not know if you will answer."

"_I will answer as I can,"_ Providence assured.

Gainel finally noticed the figure sitting on the mirror-like black floor, leaning against the foot of the Scale-woman. Gainel had never seen Providence nor even spoken with him, but that wasn't saying much, as he rarely allowed himself to be seen. Gainel couldn't think of a single God or Goddess of whom he knew to have had an encounter with the solitary being, except for Mother Flame and doubtless Father Universe. Even if you went to his realm there was no guarantee he would speak with you, you could stand around in the darkness staring at the Scales forever and never see or hear a thing. If he decided to address you, there was little chance we would or could help you without disrupting The Balance, and his entire job was to keep The Balance and so one could see why he'd be loath to do so.

Sitting there in hooded, white robes, was someone who appeared to be a year or to younger than Gainel's assumed appearance, with blindingly pale hair and skin and grey eyes, wearing an expression that was both neutral and unrevealing. A wrist that poked from the long, wide sleeves was as pale and delicate as to seem insubstantial. As Gainel saw him, the figure, moved his hands to tuck within his sleeves.

Despite the Being's apparent calm, Gainel couldn't help but think that Providence was a quite sorrowful individual, and he felt a sort of kinship. Melancholia-ridden-loners unite: they should have a guild, Gainel thought sarcastically.

"I'm sure you are aware of my situation," Gainel began.

"_Yes,"_ was the emotionless answer.

"Do you also know my question?"

"_I have something of an idea, Yes."_

"Is their anything you can tell me about it?" Gainel asked hopefully. Up until now Providence had been surprisingly cooperative; he just hoped his luck would continue.

"_Yes, stop looking for an answer. You will not find it. It will come unbidden: one way or another."_

That was…rather helpful actually; almost encouraging even, or was it? He thought about the phrase "one way or another" and reassessed his reaction. Providence was saying (rather cryptically) that either it would occur somehow on its own, or something else would which would cause this problem to go away without actually solving it; which was very _dis_couraging.

"What are the odds?" Gainel asked, hoping he wasn't making a mistake by doing so.

"_Ordinarily I'd say one to one."_

"But?"

"_In this case, I can't say one way or the other. So many different elements are involved."_

"The imbalance," Gainel realized, worriedly. With the balance shifted towards good, there was more than a chance that things were about to take a turn for the worse.

"_Yes, among others."_

"If you had to guess, how do you think it will go?"

"_I can't say."_

"Can't say or won't say?"

"_Both."_

"You do realize you're not telling me indicates the odds are bad."

"_On the contrary: with humans involved, odds seem to be of little consequence to reality. So you see I honestly can't say, although to be truthful I wouldn't tell you my opinion if I had one, one way or the other."_

"I see." Gainel murmured. What Providence said was true. Humans seemed to come out on top against the odds more than not; perhaps things weren't so bad after all.

"_It's nothing personal" _Providence said. No, Gainel was wrong, his voice wasn't emotionless; it was just non-confrontational and sincere.

"Yes, I understand." He did too; it was part of his job, and he even seemed sorry he couldn't help.

"_But I will say that I know how I want things to end up: I'll do my best."_

Gainel couldn't help it, he smiled, "Thank you."

"_I hope that I have been helpful."_

"You have. I have one last question."

"_Oh?"_

"What, you don't already know what it is?" Gainel teased.

"_Not at all."_ Providence responded. His voice hadn't changed but the Dream King had the feeling he was amused by the remark.

"Do you ever get out of here?" Gainel asked, indicating the black expanse that Providence inhabited.

"_Sometimes."_

"You are quite obviously busy right now."

"_Yes, I am."_

"But drop by anytime. I have the feeling I'm going to want the distraction from the Darkings, and Lynn keeps telling me that if I want people to come by I have to ask."

There was a pause, and then he said, _"I will."_

Gainel was turning to leave, when Providence added, _"But remember to change your wards. I understand that you were harboring the notion of conveniently forgetting about them."_

And he disappeared.


End file.
